A girl and her tank
by justaguy221
Summary: One can say a great many things about Louise's familiar. It's big for one, quite heavy too at thirty tons. But elegant and wise? You couldn't be further from the truth.
1. Chapter 1: The first shot

The earth shook as a thunderous explosion rocked the nearby students' senses, covering the courtyard in a thick black smoke obscuring any onlookers view of the summoning ceremony.

Covering her eyes, Louise was amid a coughing fit, as she waved her arm in front of her in an attempt to dispel the dark fog that stung her eyes throat and pride.

It wasn't a sight that was too uncommon for the academy, every single one of her spells ended the same way.

A sudden gust of wind battered her back, knocking her off balance and forcing her to step forward before she would end up face first into the ground.

As the smoke was blown away, she saw it. In front of her stood a hulking green beast that looked like nothing she had ever seen before.

It stood on two rows of interconnecting black metal on either side of it that ran into the ground.

Its frontal plate was sloped back curving underneath the beast at the bottom which stood around at least a foot off the ground.

Various bits on the front plate drew her interest.

The musket looking barrel was poking out of a metal ball on the left side of the plate. The small A shaped piece of metal that held a short cannon that was mounted in the dome atop the metal monster which looked to be opened up at the top if that small circular piece of metal that jutted out of the top.

Just what was this thing? The cannon pointed it to be military but what purpose would a gun that small had? And wouldn't you need someone outside of it to load it?

Louise slowly stepped forward towards the mon- Her familiar, until she stood directly in front of it.

Raising her arm, she cautiously extended and placed an open hand on the frontal plate, flinching slightly at the cold metal.

This was her familiar, this weird metal turtle.

"Miss Valliere if you would complete the contract." The voice of her professor breaking through her trance.

"Right," Louise told him refusing to break eye contact with her familiar.

Glancing up at the dome she realized that she couldn't just kiss it anywhere. She needed to find the right spot, and that wasn't out here.

Leaning forward she grabbed hold of the cannon's mount and raised her foot onto the where the metal began to slide back in on itself.

Taking a moment to adjust her footing, she pushed herself up onto it climbing grabbing at the cannon itself once she passed the mount until she stood at the dome itself.

The circular piece of metal that had been sticking out that she had assumed covered a way in was just that. However, it wasn't what she expected, instead of being just a normal way in there was glass that circled the opening, she couldn't fathom a reason.

Stepping up onto the dome she crouched down over the hole. Placing both hands on either side of her, she brought her legs out from under her and slid them into the hole, slowly lowering herself until her feet were planted on something strangely soft when she was halfway into the hole.

Raising both arms above her head, she crouched down until she was sat in the dome proper and to say that what she found confused her would be an understatement.

If she had to describe the feeling, she got from within the metal box she would describe it as lived in. There were pieces of art hung on the walls of various women, some of which were wearing hardly any clothing at all.

On a small rack in the back of the dome was filled with bottles filled with what looked to be wine, as well as a few that were filled with this odd-looking brown liquid and wrapped goods which upon closer inspection were various kinds of cheese.

The floor itself was a complete mess with mud and large brass cylinders covering the floor.

But the genuinely puzzling aspects of her familiar were right in front of her.

Taking up most of the room was a large oddly shaped piece of blackened metal that had a thin white shield that went down along it before passing it and looping around to the other side where it was opened up down the middle allowing easy access to the back of the cannon.

Standing up she moved to the seated position directly in front of her which had a multitude of levers, hand cracks and what looked to be two spyglasses.

One which was hooked to the top of the dome just in front of the seat, the other looked like it pointed through the front of the dome.

Grabbing the top mounted square spyglass, she pressed her head up to the padding that surrounded it and gazed into it, finding that it allowed her to see her class who looked absolutely out of their mind bored as they waited on her to finish up with the branding her familiar.

Turning in her seat sh-

A sudden loud boom rocked the dome sending smoke and the strong stench of sulphur into the cabin. Causing her to fall back and bang her head on the side of the turret.

Yelping, she brought both her hands to the back of her head as she sat back up. Rubbing the no doubt bruised part of her head she sat back up.

What had she done?

Glancing down at the floor she found a new casing on the ground. Only this one had smoke emanating from it.

Ignoring it, she Moved over to the opening she climbed onto the seat and poked her head out. "Leave it to Louise to summon something as destructive as herself."

Destructive?

Looking around she found most of the students scattered, with their familiars at their side.

As she turned to face the front of the metal beast, the blood ran away from her face.

Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the academy's wall, only now it had a large hole in the side of it.

"Louise finish the summoning now!" Her professor shouted in a fury that she had yet to hear from him.

Eyes wide she swiftly ducked back into the tank planted a quick kiss on the shield and backed away.

'That should do it.' She thought to herself.

Turning to get out, she felt an odd warmth in her core that grew in intensity.

Hotter and hotter.

A scream escaped her lips, "My. Hand." She muttered, clenching her left wrist. It felt like someone was pressing red hot metal on her left hand.

Pain obstructed any rational thought, and in a single moment, it ended.

Louise fell back into the commander's seat as a wave of fatigue washed over her.

Glancing at her hand, she found runes had carved themselves into her skin.

Fatigue was replaced with panic.

Why did she have Familiar runes on her hand? Wasn't this tank her Familiar?

The clacking of boots on steel alerted her to the fact that someone was ascending the tank.

"Miss Valliere are you alright!?" Professor Colbert shouted.

Panic grew; she couldn't be seen with these runes.

Shooting her hand over to the loader's seat she grabbed a pair of gloves that had been left there and quickly slid them over her hands just as Colbert came into view.

"Are you alright?" He repeated.

Louise only looked up in nodded. "Just banged my head professor."

A soft smile formed on the man's face. "That's good. Based on the glow that we saw, I'll assume that the summoning was a success. Now, do you think you can get your familiar to the stables?"

Her gaze fell to her feet. "Maybe, I'll need to get to the driver's seat."

"Driver?"

"My familiar isn't beast. It's like a cannon in a sense, it needs a crew?" 'How do I know this?'

"So, you were the one that fired the cannon?"

Louise paled. "I-I-I didn't mean too, I was just moving around, and the cannon fired-"

Colbert let out a sigh and raised a hand cutting off her constant apologizing as I can tell that this was a simple accident and no one was hurt I will ignore it. However it would be best if you moved your familiar, I can get the runes tomorrow."

"R-Right." Stepping on the commander's seat, she poked out of the top of the tank, using her arms she hoisted herself out of the tank, sitting down on the side of the hatch, to pull her legs out.

There were only two people left in the crowd. Kirche who stood with her arms crossed and a small grin on her face and Tabitha who was showing a large amount of interest to her 9-foot-tall tank.

As she spun to the front of the tank, she paused to take another look at the destruction caused by her tank. "The stables if you would?"

"R-R-Right." She blurted up, quickly dropping off the turret and pulling open the driver's hatch and dropping into position and immediately took note of what was needed to get the thing moving.

Pushing her seat up so that her head stuck out of the hull, she grabbed both brake levers and planted her feet on the clutch and gas.

Grabbing the fuel primer pump, she pulled it back and forth several times sending fuel to the engine.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to the instrument box and prayed that her tank had gas.

Reaching over she pressed her thump up against the starter switch and pushed it.

The entire tank rocked as the engine struggled to turn over.

Letting go of the button, she let the engine rest for a moment before attempting once more.

The engine roared to life, alleviating the fear that had crept up.

Pressing down the clutch, she shoved the gear shifter and pushed it forward into first gear.

Looking around to make sure she wasn't going to hit anyone, she pressed down on the gas pedal as she pulled in the left lever.

The tank instantly began to spin around, until it faced the stables itself.

Letting go of the lever, she began to speed up accompanied by an ever-growing smile.

Stepping off the gas, she pressed the clutch and shifted to second gear, making her go even faster.

The roar of the engine engulfed her in an endless sea of joy.

Was it the wind?

The roar of her Familiar?

Or just the fact that this was the product of her first successful spell?

In the end, it didn't matter to her she wanted just to drive.

If only the stables weren't so close.

Depressing the gas pedal, she slowed down and quickly followed up by pressing down on the clutch she shifted down until she was in natural.

Pulling back on both levers the tank ground to a halt just outside the stable, sliding her foot underneath the rocker, she pushed it up, locking the brake levers in place.

Letting go of the levers she reached down and pulled the engine off lever, which killed the engine instantly before she lowered her seat until her view was entirely that of the hull.

Pulling her left hand's glove off she inspected the runes.

"Gandalfr." She muttered to herself.

Her ancient Romalian wasn't the best, but that's what I looked like.

But what did it mean?

Perhaps this was the reason why everything felt so second nature, but that didn't why she was branded.

"Miss Valliere?" Her professor called out to her. Shoving her glove back on she pulled herself out of the tank finding Colbert walking over to her in a brisk pace with stars in his eyes. "Is your familiar powered by an engine?" He asked.

"I thi- Yes, it is."

"Do you think I can see it?"

"Y-Yes." She said with a stiff nod, cautiously descended the front of the hull.

As she stepped off, she looked back at her Familiar, and a single word came to mind.

Sherman.

xXXXx

High above, the Courtyard, Old Osmond silently observed the tank, a small smile on his face.

"Shall I send the invoice to the Valliere manor?"

"Oh no, her familiar was just being a bit rowdy as all. It's not the first time something that had been summoned caused such damage."

xXXXx

_**Over the past few months, I've become more and more infatuated with tanks, specifically ww2 tanks, so I began to wonder what would happen if I gave Louise a tank which leads to her getting the Gandalfr runes because she needs a way to use it.**_

_**As for my other fic, I'm still working on it, but this is something that I can casually write as I can use canon to help guide me, all though it will most likely end up off the walls.**_

_**Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed it. since these chapters are going to be shorter they will (hopefully) be less time consuming to make.**_

_**Have a great day.**_


	2. Chapter 2: Target practice

Night came and went, bringing with it a new day.

A day that had been set aside for the young mages to bond with their familiar.

A day Louise planned on using to clean up the interior up to fit a noble of her worth.

And plan she did, having swapped out her regular clothing, for a basic jockey uniform that her mother had gotten her in case she summoned a beast that she could be able to ride, which included hard leather boots and riding pants, she also had her hair tied back in a braid so that it wouldn't get in the way.

But best of all it was a beautiful day to do it.

The cool morning air was accentuated by a small breeze, which kissed what little exposed skin she had making the faint warmth of the sun all the sweeter.

However, any sense of excitement at the day's plan instantly vanished as her tank came into view.

Colbert, of course, was up, on the engine deck hutched over something that she assumed was a sketch pad.

This wasn't the source of her annoyance. No that came from the red salamander that was currently resting behind the tank and his red hair harlot that was trying to get her turret hatch open.

A scowl on her face. Louise stomped over to her Familiar.

"Kirche what do you think you're doing?" She asked.

Kirche gave her a passing glance and a quick "Oh, hey Louise" before returning to what she was doing. "Nothing much, just trying to get your familiar open."

Louise began to tremble in anger, clenching her hand into a fist. 'No shame.'

Taking a deep breath, the anger slowly subsided. "Why?"

"I wanted to get a better look at that cannon. The kind of destruction it caused shouldn't be possible for a cannon that size." The redhead explained.

Walking over to the side of her tank, she stepped up onto the suspension before hoisting herself up onto the tank proper. "So, you want to steal my tanks secrets? So that your family can try another invasion into the Valliere lands?"

Kirche, turned towards her, with a concerned look. "Sure, are energetic this morning,"

Biting her tongue, she stepped up onto the top of the turret. "Mister Colbert, if you will."

The man looked up from his work, confused, "Miss Valliere, Miss Zerbst, when did you get here?"

Louise's face fell instantly. Was he that entranced by the engine? "If you would unlock the hatch." She asked changing the subject.

"Oh!" sitting up he reached behind himself and grabbed his staff and muttered a quick incantation.

The hatch glowed blue for a single moment before returning to its usual green self.

Crouching down she flipped it opened and dropped down into the turret.

Before she could get to work clearing the floor, her nose was assaulted by the stench of mold.

"Oh, come on Louise, let see it fire." Kirche once again asked.

The gloved hand covering her mouth keeping herself from making the work worse stopped her from answering.

Her wide eyes shot to the cheese she had neglected to throw out yesterday.

Grabbing the wrapped goods, she tossed it out onto the turret and swiftly clambered out of the stench filled crew compartment resting on her stomach atop the turret.

"Come on Louise, I know you want to fire it," Kirche stated.

"If you. Can air out. The tank. I'll let you watch me fire it." She said between deep breaths of fresh air.

"No problem." She said with a grin. Pulling a wand from her chest she spoke a quick incantation.

The wand glowed bright blue as a gust of wind suddenly shot from the open hatch, before dissipating as fast as it appeared.

"That should do it." She said with the same cocksure grin as before.

Flipping on to her back, she sat up. "And burn that cheese." She told the fire mage.

"Why just burn it?" She asked, reaching over and grabbing the wrapped good. "Flame!" She shouted before tossing it over the back of the tank.

A pyre of fire shot from out of sight, engulfing and instantly turning the molded cheese to ash.

"Now about firing the gun?"

"After I clean it up. Some servants are coming by with some cleaning supplies." Louise explained.

"Wow, I didn't expect that."

"What?"

"It's just, I didn't expect a member of the second most powerful family in the country to be willing to get down and dirty cleaning their own familiar."

Louise could feel her blood pressure rise, crossing her arms, she let out a huff. "Kirche, you know my mother was captain of the manticore knights, and she raised me with the values she learned when she was a recruit."

"Which is?"

"Always maintain your gear and don't let _anyone_ near your familiar that you don't trust."

Kirche just stared at her in a state of disbelief. "Ah."

Getting back on task, she dropped down into the turret once more and got to work. Tossing shell after shell out of the hatch until the floor was clear of any tripping hazards.

Next were the pieces of art, as much as she was amazed at how lifelike they were, they had to go. She would rather die the get caught with art of half-naked women.

Collecting them all together, she flipped the top piece over, so that it hid the rest of the pieces, before clambering back up the commander's cupola.

"Kirche I need a flame."

"All you have to do is ask." Kirche raised her wand once more, a small flame igniting at the end of it.

Extending the wad of art, she hovered it over the flame and watched as it ignited. Tossing it off the tank.

"I'm sorry to ask Miss Valliere." The voice of Colbert pulling her attention to the man continuing to sketch the engine. "But how much power does this engine generate?"

_450_

"Four hundred and fifty horsepower."

"Horse. Power?" He muttered.

"Yeah, the power it generates can move something that would require four hundred and fifty horses... I think."

"Founder, the power of an entire battalion of cavalries in such a package," Colbert muttered too himself.

"What a dumb name," The redhead said to herself.

"That reminds me, Professor do you think you can help me with something?" Louise asked

"Sure, what is it?" He replied with a smile.

"Do you think you could make me some fuel for my familiar?"

"It should be no problem provided you have a sample."

"Yeah let me grab it." pulling herself out of the turret, she quickly made her way to the front of the tank and undid the travel lock holding the gun in place and softly lowered it to its laying position.

Doubling back to the commander's cupola she Ducked back down inside the turret and quickly took her place at the gunner's seat.

Turning the traverse lock, she, she unlocked the turret.

Reaching down, she switched on the traverse motor causing a faint hum to fill the turret before reaching in front of her and grabbing the power traverse controls she turned it to the left.

The turret began to spin, without warning, eliciting a scream from the redhead who had no doubt been leaning on it.

"Louise!" The smug grin grew wider at her rival's panic.

"What? I can't hear you."

Now if the runes were correct, there should be...

As the turret aligned with the engine, and the dotted wall of the turret basket gave way to a completely open view, she found what she was looking for.

A green jerry can, full of fuel. Hopefully.

Leaning underneath the gun, she reached out and grabbed the can. Letting out a grunt she pulled it towards her, finding it quite heavy for such a small thing.

Sitting back up she lifted it onto her legs.

As she examined the can, she couldn't quite shake this odd feeling, of knowing what something is yet never seeing it.

She didn't know if she liked it, but it felt off.

Pushing past the feeling, she unscrewed the top and opened up the can, which let out a strange, pleasant smell, that filled the air around her.

Quickly screwing the lid back on, she shut off the traverse motor and moved the can over to the commander's position before following it.

Lifting the can over her head, she stood up on the commander's seat allowing her to Place the can next to the cupola before poking her head out once more.

Instantly covering her mouth, Louise struggled to contain a laugh.

"Louise," Kirche spoke in a soft tone, that did little to hide the burning fury within her.

"What is it?" Louise asked continuing to fight the urge to laugh.

"You're going to pay oh so dearly for that." She threatened, wiping a bit of mud from her brow.

"How about I let you fire the gun, and in exchange, you stop fawning over it?" She asked looking past her. "Mister Colbert, here it is."

Colbert, having just closed the engine hatch, stood up with a smile "Ah thank you Valliere, I'll get to work right away." He said grabbing the can and levitating himself off of the tank.

"So, you'll let me fire it?" Kirche asked pulling her attention once more.

"If you help me clean the tank."

"How long until they get here?" Kirche asked making it clear that she was losing her patents.

"How am I suppos-"

"Miss Valliere?" A feminine voice asked cutting them off.

Looking towards the source, she found a raven-haired servant holding a bucket of soapy water in her hands with several rags on its rim. "Ah, perfect. Kirche if you could?"

The redhead rolled her eyes, and reached down to the servant, grabbed the bucket and hoisted it up to the turret. "That should be all," Louise added dismissing the servant.

"Ok now just lower that down to me," Louise commanded her as she crouched down into the turret.

A faint groan came from outside the tank, while the bucket was lowered into the turret.

Grabbing it, Louise set it underneath the gun, before sliding over and sitting in the loader's seat, just as Kirche clambered into the turret.

"It's a lot bigger on the outside." She commented as she sat down in the commander's seat. "How many people are supposed to crew this?"

"Five why do you ask?"

"Can five people even fit in here?"

"Well, you got two in the hull." Louise told the redhead pointing through the dotted wall and to the blue haired person sitting at in the co-drivers seat before turning back to Kirche "And three in the turr-"

Shooting her gaze back to the co-driver seat where Tabitha sat, gazing down at a book in her lap.

"Tabitha! What are you doing here? How did you even get inside the tank?"

"Curious." She spoke in the all too familiar soft monotone of hers

"That's not a complete answer."

"When Colbert unlock-."

"And don't you have a dragon, what are you doing lounging around here?"

"Out hunting." She replied flipping.

"You know what? I don't care, just don't touch anything."

"Not going to."

"Kirche!" She shouted turning her gaze back to the flame mage. "soak a rag and pass it to me." She commanded, her annoyance oozing into her speech.

As soon as she received the rag, she immediately began to scrub the floor punctuating every push and pull with a grunt that was chock full on annoyance.

"You know. You said your mother taught you not to let people you don't trust near your familiar." Kirche said, scrubbing her side of the turret basket.

"What about it?"

"Does this mean you trust me?"

"No, I don't, I just know you wouldn't do anything stupid."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember how badly the wall was destroyed?"

"Yeah."

"Well you let off a spell in here, and what happened to that wall will happen in this small cramped space," Louise explained

Kirche sat in silence for a bit before letting out a single "Ah."

xXXXx

The cleaning of the turret basket was surprisingly simple if time-consuming.

But now, after the dirty water had been dumped off the side of the tank, the floor of the turret basket was as clean as the day it was made.

It was something she took pride in, for it was a master's duty to ensure that his or her familiar was presentable at all times.

But pride was the last thing she felt at this particular moment. No paranoia would be a better word for it.

They had decided to leave the academy grounds as not to disturb the other students who were no doubt still in bed or were in the process of getting up.

As she drove the tank however, she felt eyes on her back.

She had assumed that it was Kirche, but she was currently sitting on the cupola seat, meaning that most of her upper torso was outside the turret, watching the trees pass.

Tabitha however, Louise swore that she was watching her. Memorizing her movements and how she controlled the tank but every time she would look over Tabitha would be gazing dead ahead.

The forest thinned out, and the trio soon found themselves in a large clearing.

Grabbing both breaks, she slammed them towards her chest.

The front of the tank tilted forward as it ground to a halt. "Here should be good." Louise declared, lowering her seat and turning off the engine.

"Couldn't you have taken longer to slow down?"

"Nope."

Turning in her seat, Louise squeezed into the turret basket and quickly took her place in the loader's seat.

Kirche swiftly followed suit and moved to the gunner's position.

"Say, Kirche, why do you have such an interest in the cannon?" Louise mindlessly asked as she leaned forward, reaching into a container housing the tank shells.

Kirche looked away as if in shame and clasped both her hands in front of her chest. "Because much like love, a cannon is a sudden explosion of energy, that ends just as quickly as it begins."

"I have a hard time believing that."

The redhead let out a tired sigh turned her head to face her. "If you want the truth it's because I grew up around them. Much like you Louise my family raised me as if I was getting ready to head into battle, and due to the fact that Germania doesn't have as many mages we have to rely on artillery and cannons to achieve the same effect."

"oh."

"Even today I can still remember the thundering roar of the cannons as my father drilled his troops. So, I hope that explains my interest." The redhead explained. "But we're not here to discuss our history. Let's get shooting." She said with a devilish grin. "So how does this work."

Louise briefly went over the controls for the gun, teaching her the basic controls, however conveniently leaving out the power traverse controls.

After a good half minute of Kirche cranking the traverse wheel, the gun was finally aimed out at the field.

"So how do you actually fire the gun," Kirche asked, pulling away from the roof-mounted periscope.

"Look at your feet. You see those two buttons?"

"Yeah."

"Right is the coaxial gun and the left in the main canno-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a loud click cut her off. "Huh, nothing happened," Kirche muttered her boot pressed on the button.

"Because it's not loaded!" Louise shouted.

"Well load it then."

Leaning forward, she grabbed hold of one of the shells and hoisted it up onto her lap. Adjusting it in her lap, she placed the tip into the cannon breach, and in a single moment, shot it inside causing the breach block to slammed shut.

"Now it will work," Louise told her, sitting up to look through the periscope.

The redhead wasted no time slamming down on the trigger. Instantly the cabin was filled with the sickening smell of sulphur and the explosive sound of the gun firing its seventy-five-millimetre shell.

Louise watched as the shell flew through the air until it disappeared into the forest. "There, you got to fire it. Are we done?" She asked pulling away from the sight.

When she didn't receive an answer, she looked over to find an awestruck Kirche, gazing through her sight, her jaw hanging open.

"Kirche?"

Kirche shook herself out of her state and turned to face her rival with a smile as broad as the Romalian empire at its hight.

"Load another one. I want to try it again."

"I said you get to fire it once. You got to fire it!" She yelled.

"Yeah, but it wasn't at a target, so I didn't really fire it."

"What sort of backwards commoner logic is that?"

"It makes sense." The fire mage argued. "Hey, Tabitha do you think you can make a pillar of ice for me to shoot at?"

The blue-haired girl was silent for but a moment. "Done."

Quickly retaking her spot at the periscope, she found five different pillars of ice set up at various ranges.

"Come on Louise give me another shot," Kirche told the pinkette, already looking through the forward sight.

"Fine, one more." She said leaning forward and plucking another shell from the container, following the motions slammed it into the breach and quickly returned to looking back through the scope. "You're ready."

The redhead, took a moment to adjust her aim.

The tank rocked as another shell was let loose, impacting and shattering the target closest to them. "You hit it?" Louise muttered to herself.

"See I'm not half bad at it."

"Well, of course, you wouldn't be that bad, that target was practically in our face. I very much doubt you could hit that one in the back."

"Give me another shell, and we'll test that theory of yours," Kirche said, cockiness lacing her words.

Grabbing another shell, she slammed it in once again before taking her position at the periscope.

"So which pillar did you want me to hit?"

"The one in the back by the tree line."

"Say, Tabitha, how far away is that pillar?" Kirche asked.

"Hey, she's not allowed to he-"

"Eight hundred yards." The blunette muttered.

"Easy." The back of the gun began to lower as Kirche adjusted her aim.

Pressing the trigger, the shot flew out of the cannon and grazed the pillar impacting the ground just behind it. "See it wasn'-" Before she could finish the boast, the round detonated and shattered the post.

"See, told you it wasn't a fluke." Kirche boasted spinning in her chair. "I'm just a natural."

"Ok, you know what. Out of the chair. I'll prove it to you that what you did wasn't that impressive."

The fire mage did as she was told and swapped places with the pinkette. "So how do you load the cannon?"

"Look all you do is take the pointed end of the shell and shove it into the hole. You're quite good at that are you not!" She bellowed in rage.

"My you _are_ quite energetic this morning."

"Just load the stupid shell." Looking through the sights, she readied herself. "Tabitha create another pillar at the same distance."

Before her very eyes, a pillar of ice sprouted out of the ground to the left of her sight.

Grabbing the traverse wheel, she quickly lined up the shot and patiently waited.

"Ok, you're ready."

Pressing down on the trigger, smoke-filled her view as the shell left the barrel.

"Wow." A smug grin formed on her face, it was obvious that she had hit her target on the first tr-. "That wasn't even close. You were easily ten feet above the target."

"Yeah well, that's just because you got a practice shot. load it again." She commanded.

Turning back to her periscope she adjusted her aim. And as soon as Kirche gave her the confirmation, launched the next shell.

"Now you were too short."

"Well load another!"

Shell after shell was fired, and each one of them missed, and it was always followed by a comment on how she missed.

"A bit too far to the left."

"Now too far to the right."

"That one went straight into the woods."

It wasn't until the container was emptied of ordnance that she stopped.

And she was furious.

"Well, I guess we learned something today Louise," Kirche said in the same cocky tone as before.

"Oh yeah? What was that?" Louise asked her voice shaking in partially contained fury.

"Well since you did manage to summon this, you're no longer a zero in magic. But You're still a zero accuracy."

"Out," Louise muttered.

"What was that Louise?" Kirche asked.

"I said out of my gods damn tank!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, pulling a wand out from her belt.

Kirche instantly fell back against the wall of the turret. "Now, Louise let's not do anything hasty."

"Ren."

"Ok, ok, I'm getting out of the tank," Kirche said, quickly crossing over and climbing out of the turret.

"You too Tabitha."

The blue haired girl said nothing and quietly exited the tank.

Reaching back, she closed the commander's hatch and locked it, making sure that they couldn't get back in.

Crawling into the bow gunners position she did the same with this hatch.

Stepping over to the transmission, she poked her head out into the world. "I want both of you in front of the tank where I can see you!" She called out.

Not a moment later both girls appeared and stood side by side in front of the tank. "Now I'm heading back to the academy, but for your safety, I need you two to stay there so I won't run over you."

"Come on Louise it was ju-"

"You can tell me about how it was just a joke back at the academy." She said starting the engine.

Shifting into reverse, she began to back up for some time, before turning around and driving back to the academy.

Kirche and Tabitha stood in the middle of the road powerless to stop the thirty-ton beast and resigned themselves to walking back.

"Your fault," Tabitha muttered.

xXXXx

_**Well, this is probably the fastest I've ever put out a chapter**_

_**I very much hope you enjoyed this chapter and be sure to let me know what you think in the reviews.**_

_**Have a great day where ever you are.**_


	3. Chapter 3: Resupply

The dining hall was teeming with life as breakfast wound down with the newly summoned familiars were the talk of choice among the students.

Louise, however, wasn't interested in that, even less so in the steaming plate of various meats and vegetables.

She was too focused on what had transpired.

The fact that Kirche had beaten her at gunning her own familiar.

What did that mean?

Was she that much of a failure that even a common Germanian could beat her?

No, that just meant she needed to practice until she could hit every single target Tabitha could create.

There was only one issue.

She would need shells

And that she herself had wasted six rounds, in such a short time meant that if she really wanted to improve, she would need a constant supply of ammo.

Which meant, she needed to find someone who had a vast understanding of alchemy and a person who was an expert in metallurgy.

Colbert was the obvious choice for the job, but he was busy with the fuel. So, who could she turn too?

"Montmorency, I've been thinking. My brother just became lord, of this small oceanside village which houses a beautiful vineyard. Perhaps sometime this summer we can take a trip and see the ocean?"

Looking over her shoulder, she found Montmorency and Guiche walking side by side as they headed out into the courtyard.

An idea sprung into her head but she quickly swept it aside, there was one person she wasn't going to work with it would be her.

That still left her with this issue.

Quietly beginning to eat, she continued to contemplate her options.

'There was Madam Chevreuse who seemed slightly competent in the subject. But after blowing up her classroom two days ago.'

No, she couldn't.

'Professor Douval could work,'

But last she checked they were still picking glass out of his arm.

There would always be independent alchemists in the capital that would be willing to make the gunpowder she needed, but.

Pushing herself up from the table, she grabbed the small bun of bread and began making her way to the door.

But nothing. She wasn't just going to waste her day waiting here

"Miss Valliere?" Came the voice of a servant from behind her.

"Yes?" She asked turning to face the same raven-haired servant as before.

"The headmaster wishes to speak with you."

"Did he say why he wanted to see me?"

"No, he just said it was urgent."

Pursing her lips, Louise turned away and gave a short, "Thank you." before heading to the headmaster's office.

xXXXx

The atmosphere of the headmaster's office was palpable, and Louise stood in the center of it all with her heart in her throat.

To her left was a man that she knew all too well Professor Guiteau, a wind mage who's been on her back since she had enrolled in the academy. All because her mother put him in his place back when she was her age.

And stood beside him was Madam Chevreuse whose relationship with her could be best described as strained.

To her right was Colbert who had a look of empathy on his face.

And directly in front of her was her headmaster Old Osmond, who merely sat back smoking his pipe.

"Osmond, you must expel this girl at once. She has been allowed to run amuck for far too long, with that destructive brand of magic, she wields, and now she's riding around in that large metal beast she calls her familiar." Guiteau accused.

It was always the same with him.

The headmaster hummed. "Madam Chevreuse, what do you say?" He asked setting down his pipe.

"Although her, _unique_ brand of magic is quite disruptive, I don't think expulsion is called for here." She reasoned.

Osmond turned back to the wind mage. "Why do you detest her familiar so much, Guiteau?"

The man turned to face her. His anger was as clear as day. "It's simple, Yesterday, it destroyed the wall and tore up the courtyard. Today, it disturbed my Griffins sleep, and made her sick with those noxious fumes it spews from its rear."

"I still don't see how this calls for her expulsion." Colbert Argued

"Perhaps if you let me finished."

A soft groan came from the old man, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Continue Guiteau."

"I took my familiar for a flight in order to calm her down, and while I was resting at Bellefroid lake, I was disturbed by the sound of cannon fire, and before knew what was going on, I was doused in smoke."

"As long as it wasn't poisonous, I don't see a problem." Colbert cut in.

"it wasn't, but it did burn through my familiar's leg." The man turned back to stare her down, making her blood run cold. "Thankfully I knew enough water magic to stop it from burning all the way through to the bone."

Louise paled at the description. Had she really done that?

"And how did you know it was her familiar that did this?"

"Because after I had healed her, I flew up to figure out who had done such a thing and found her familiar taking shots into the forest that was sitting at my back."

"And was she intentionally shooting at you?" The headmaster asked.

"Does that matter? All Valliere's are reckless, you've seen it with Karin when she was younger, we've seen it with Elenore, and we'll see it with her!" The wind mage bellowed pointing a finger at her.

"I'd rather you not shout in my office Guiteau, and yes it does, accidents can and will happen when it comes to newly summoned familiars," Osmond said turning his attention to her. "Besides, we've yet to hear her side of the story."

Looking down at her feet, Louise clenched both her hands in front of her. "I went out this morning with Kirche Zerbst-"

"Zerbst?" Osmond hummed. "Forgive my interruption."

"We had left the academy to go fire my tank's cannon. When I figured we were far enough away, I stopped the tank, and Kirche and I began firing at targets created by Tabitha, and while I was firing the cannon, I may have overshot my target, sending it into the woods. I had no intention of harming Professor Guiteau's familiar."

Guiteau barred his teeth and stomped over to her. "Then explain why you ran off as soon as I saw you?" He spat jamming a finger into her chest

"Guiteau that's enough!" The headmaster ordered. "I understand how one can feel if when their familiar is harmed, but I will not have you continue to harass one of my students."

"Osmond listen to me, that Familiar is not-"

"I don't want to hear it. Now you are going to head back to your office, and you're going to drop this here and now!"

The man bared his teeth once more, clenched his fists and let out a huff before turning and stomping out of the room leaving the room in an eerie state of silence

"I must apologize for his outburst Miss Valliere, but I hope you understand where he's coming from."

Louise could do nothing but nod in agreement.

"Now, that leaves us with another matter." Osmond started, looking over at the earth mage in attendance. "Madam Chevreuse."

She nodded, stepping forward. "As Guiteau, explained before, Valliere, you're Familiar has been tearing up the ground wherever it goes."

"It... has...?" She muttered.

"Have you not noticed?" She questioned.

"No."

The earth mage stepped aside, swinging her arm, gesturing to the window.

Louise slowly approached the window, gazing down at the courtyard, and just like she said, found a clear path of tore up dirt and grass that led up to her familiar.

"Now that is a problem easily addressed." Osmond started. "Miss Valliere, you have two options when it comes to this. One is to give up your familiar-"

"No!" Louise shouted silencing the headmaster. "Sorry. Please continue." She mumbled realizing what she had just done.

"Or, you can pay for the construction of a stable and road connecting it with the stable."

"How- How much would that cost?"

"The stable will cost at least a hundred ecus to build, the road, however, you'll have to import bricks from Braivas, and that alone will cost you around two hundred and fifty ecus before the construction costs."

Biting her tongue, she lowered her head in submission. "I can pay that."

"Well, now I guess that concludes this discussion. I'll have Longueville order the materials and have builders come in from the capital to construct the shed, but until then I have to ask you to refrain from using it." Osmond said, taking a puff of his pipe. "But there is something I wish to speak with you about, Louise, in private."

Chevreuse gave a quick bow to the headmaster before quietly leaving the room.

"By the way Osmond, where is your secretary?" Colbert asked.

"Oh, I sent her down to the vault to do inventory."

"Well then, if you excuse me, I need to get back to work," Colbert said with a smile, turning to leave.

"You wished to speak with me?" Louise asked walking over to the center of the room.

"Yes," Osmond started, leaning forward on his, elbows. "I was wondering, did you happen to find any glass containers that contained a sort of brownish black liquid in that "tank" of yours?"

"Yes." She said with a quick nod. "Two bottles."

Osmond let out a small hum leaning back in his seat "If you're willing to part with those two bottles, I would be willing, to cover the construction costs for your Familiar's stables."

"R-Really?" She asked, beaming with excitement.

The man nodded.

"I-I-I'll go get them right now." Without a second thought, she turned and sprinted out of the room leaving the headmaster alone

With the office now vacant, the man took another puff of his pipe. Wondering if his memory of the drink's taste was at all accurate.

xXXXx

By the time that everything had been sorted it was nearing close to ten which still gave her plenty of time to make it to the capital with the shells and return once she had finished her business in time for supper.

There was however a single issue.

All the horses had already been taken, and the three shells combined weight was easily over forty-five pounds.

Something she couldn't dream of carrying even on the best of days.

Which, left her with a single option.

One that she didn't want to entertain.

But if she wanted to have a possibility of creating shells by the time the shed was constructed, she would have to swallow her pride an ask her for help.

It had been some work, but she had gotten a cart from the kitchen, and loaded up with the three types of shells her tank carried.

M72 Armour piercing shot.

M48 high explosive.

And M89 Smoke.

She was wary of the last one, the rune gave her a brief idea of how it worked, but if it could burn through to the bone of a griffin, what could it do to a human?

It was something that she would need though, being able to cover create a smokescreen like a wind mage was too useful not to have.

Rolling the cart to a stop, she stepped out beside it and in front of the door belonging to a person she absolutely detested.

Louise raised a closed fist and held it just in front of the door.

Taking a deep breath, she gave the door three hard knocks.

The sound of shuffling was heard as the tenant of the room moved around.

"One, second," Montmorency said between what sounded like sobs.

A moment later, the door was slowly pulled open, revealing the blond water, mage, only now she looked worse than this morning.

Her hair was dishevelled, her eyes were puffy and red, and she looked as if she had spent the past few hours blowing her nose.

"Is this a bad time?"

"No just- What do you want zero," Montmorency said, doing her best to keep her composer.

"I came to ask for your help," Louise told her, ignoring the quip.

"If you came to ask me to help you cheat in the next water spell test you can forget it." She said, sniffling.

"I came because I need your alchemy expertise." Louise spat. "But forget it." She said, grabbing and beginning to move her cart down the hall.

"Wait," Montmorency said wiping her eyes. "Come inside and let us discuss it there."

Louise stood in the hall, staring down the blonde girl for a moment. Letting out a sigh, she grabbed the cart and wheeled it into the room and set it beside the table in the center of the room.

To say that the girl's room was in tatters, would have put it too lightly, tissues were strung about the place, the bed was unkept, and clothing was all over the place.

"Please have a seat." the blonde muttered.

Taking the provided seat, Louise was in awe at the girl's alchemy set which was even more extensive than Professor Douval, a water mage who taught the subject.

"What is it that you need?" Montmorency asked sitting down across from her.

"I need you to replicate a powder my tank needs."

"Tank?"

"My familiar." She explained.

The girl brought a tissue up from underneath the table and blew into it. "It's a bit outside my realm of expertise, but I should be able to do it if you give me an example of what it is. It's going to cost you though."

"I have the money."

The girl reached behind her and grabbed a small plate, from the alchemy set, setting it down on the table.

"Just put the powder here."

'She's in no shape to be handling white phosphorous or explosives in general.' Louise thought to herself.

Grabbing the armour piercing shell from the cart, she grabbed the cartridge in both hands and smashed the solid shell against the corner of the cart. Bending the brass cartridge, allowing her to pull it off.

"Here is what I need," Louise said, pouring out the gun powder from the shell. "Although I should warn you that this is extremely flammable."

The water mage took a deep breath as if attempting to stop herself from crying. "I'll get it done."

"Thank you," Louise said with a slow nod.

Choosing to let the girl have some time alone, Louise grabbed the cart and quietly left the room. Her mind was going over what else she could possibly need to keep her tank running.

xXXXx

_**And that's chapter 3 done.**_

_**I hoped you guys enjoyed that as now we should be moving a bit faster in terms of time.**_

_**Anyway's it's 1 AM and I am too tired to write this.**_

_**I hope you have a great day.**_


	4. Chapter 4: Planning

"Next up, Louise de La Valliere!" The announcer called out to the crowd.

Pushing the curtains aside Louise walked out onto the stage her hands at her side as she attempted to control her irregular breathing and heart rate.

How could she forget, that today was the Familiar showcase?

The crowd in front of her was massive, spanning as far as the eye could see.

"Zero" they called her.

"Failure." They repeated.

She couldn't care less about their opinions, all she cared about was the young woman who sat on the throne above these lower houses.

But even she wouldn't look her in the eye.

"Now Louise, what is your Familiar's type?" The announcer asked.

"Um. I-I-I-it's a tank." She stumbled over her words.

"A tank?" The man asked.

"An armoured carriage that wields a large cannon." She explained.

"And where is this 'Carriage?'"

Her, mouth went dry, her legs grew weak, and her mind went blank.

Biting her tongue, she slowly raised her arm and pointed over by the dining hall where her tank rest.

"And why is it over there?"

"Because it's out of fuel and can no longer move."

The crowd collectively laughed at her. Even the princess looked like she was holding herself back from doubling over in laughter.

Her gaze fell to her feet.

"Zero skill in magic!" They shouted.

"Zero skill in Accuracy!" They cheered.

"Now, now, let us be civil." The announcer told the crowd calming them down. "Perhaps she could still use the cannon to show us its destructive power."

Blood ran away from her face.

"Well, Louise?"

"R-R-right." She told the announcer stumbling over her words. Rushing off the stage, she pushed through the crowd and soon enough reached her tank.

Ascending the hull, she clambered into it, closing the cupola behind her, and tossed a shell into the chamber before ducking underneath the gun and took her place in the gunner's position.

In front of her was a massive archery target that wasn't there before, whose shadow blanketed the crowd in darkness.

Swallowing down her fear she Cranked the traverse wheels, she lined up her shot onto the large red circle in the center and stamped down onto the trigger.

The cannon roared as it shot the shell and spewed smoke which obscured her view.

Leaning back in her chain, she let a sigh of relief escape her lips, wiping away the sweat that had built up on her brow.

A sudden flurry of panicked screams filled the cabin, causing her to shoot up straight, quickly grabbing and hoisting herself to the periscope.

Looking around in a panic, she found nothing but an ocean of people, all of which seemed to be in a state of distress.

"She attacked the princess!" They collectively accused turning to face her.

What? Looking to where the target used to be, she stared wide-eyed as she realized that it had been replaced with the throne. Now battered and broken because of her.

"Was it jealousy?" Some wondered

"Was it hatred?" others asked

"Does it matter, the zero attacked the princess!" They all concluded.

Before she could do anything, the mob began to mount her tank.

She rushed to the commander's hatch and attempted to lock it, but as she reached for the lock, it was suddenly flung open.

A terrified scream escaped her lips, as she was grabbed and yanked from the tank by her arm.

"Kill the Zero!" They chanted, dragging her over the crowd.

"Help!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, but no one answered.

"Execute the traitor!"

"Anyone! Pleas-"

Before she could finish her pleas, she was suddenly flung back onto the stage, landing with a small thud.

Turning herself over on to her stomach, she looked up and was breathless.

Her family stood on the other end of the stage, all of which even her dear elder sister Cattleya had a look of disappointment.

Louise crawled on her hands and knees to her mother, gripping her dress as soon as she could. "Please mother, help me, they're going to kill me!" She begged.

Her mother only looked down at her with a look of disgust.

In a single moment, she was shoved away and fell onto her back.

"I warned you what would happen if you went to the academy." Her mother scolded her.

"I didn't thin-"

"But to think that even a zero like you would go out of her way to kill the princess."

"I didn't mean too!" She shouted.

"It doesn't matter. In the end traitor's get what they deserve." Her family said in union.

"Ready the cannon!" The crowd shouted, pulling her attention away from her family and to the tank that was directly behind her.

Sitting atop of it was Kirche looked down on her with the smug grin she knew all too well.

"I guess if you were able to handle your familiar better, we wouldn't be in this situation." She mocked, sliding inside the turret.

"Please Kirche!" Louise begged shooting to her feet.

Rope shot out from behind her and wrapped around her wrists and ankles and yanked her back against a wooden wall.

Tears flowed as she struggled fruitlessly against her bounds.

"Aim!"

'Why, why was this happening?'

Slamming her eyes shut, she awaited their command.

"Fire!" They commanded

"Henrietta!"

She awoke in a cold sweat screaming for a brief moment as her mind caught up.

The crowd was now gone, the chanting had stopped, and the stage and tank had been replaced with her bed, that she was sitting on in the moonlight of early morning.

Heart beating in her ear, her mind slowly caught up with what had happened, and her breathing slowed.

Flinging her sheets aside she felt relieved to see that she was still alive. "Just. A nightmare." She told herself falling back into bed.

Rubbing her face, with a free hand, she felt the tears that covered her cheeks and the sweat that stained her face

'Thank the founder that wasn't real,' With the amount of work she had gotten this week. She had no time to come up with a routine.

Stepping out of bed, she strolled over to them and pushed it open, flinching slightly at the sudden change in temperature.

In the distance was the new shed for her tank where it had been resting since the shed's completion yesterday.

It had surprised her how fast it was built, only being a week since her talk with Osmond, but he somehow got it done in that time.

What was she supposed to do for the showcase?

'Think about it tomorrow.' She told herself. 'You have plenty of time.'

Taking a deep breath, she walked over to her end table and grabbed a tiny calendar, her sister had gotten her for her birthday.

Flipping, through to this current month, 'if the summoning were a week ago, then that would mean that the showcase would be tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow depending on what time it was.'

A wave of relief came over her, as she set the calendar down and quietly got back into bed, pulling her covers close as sleep beckoned her once more.

Her eyes suddenly shot wide.

xXXXx

Panic gripped at her core as she paced around her tank inside the well-lit shed. She had a day to come up with a spectacle for her familiar that would amaze Henrietta.

There was a clear path that she could take. But.

No, her aim was too wild.

She could just drive it, but the fact that she wouldn't be on the turret wouldn't convey the idea that she had complete control over it.

"Need help?" Tabitha asked.

Louise let out a tiny Yelp as her gaze shot to the front of the turret, where Tabitha sat, reading a book in her lap.

"Tabitha can you please stop doing that!" She shouted. "And how did you even get in here?"

"This morn-"

"You know I don't care. What are you doing here?"

"Curious."

"Can I get more than a one-word answer?" She asked crossing her arms.

"Familiar takes five to crew. By yourself for showcase." She explained

"For an event like this four would suffice." Louise corrected turning back to her pacing.

"I'll drive."

"But, don't think I'-" She blinked. What did she say?

Looking back at Tabitha, she found her already climbing down into the driver's position. "Hey Tabitha, I didn't give you permission! You probably don't even know how to drive it."

Tabitha stopped moving and looked back at her with that empty stare of her's. "Teach me?"

"Why should I ev-" She stopped herself as her mind came up with an idea.

'If she was driving, I could sit up on the cupola, and act as if it was me controlling it.' But.

Fuel.

That's right, she didn't have fuel yet, and the last thing she wanted was to waste more on just driving around.

"Miss Valliere?"

Brought back from her thoughts, she noticed an extremely tired Professor Colbert standing at the door of the shed, with two barrels hanging over his head.

"It took me all night, but I finally had a breakthrough." The man said with a wary smile.

Her lips curled up into a bright smile. "And it'll work?"

"It should" He started. "The fuel burns at the same temperature and is, by all my accounts, identical in makeup to what you've provided to me."

"T-t-then we should test it!" Louise shouted.

The man's smile grew, "Which is exactly why I came here." He walked over to the tank and set it down beside the engine. "I assume you know where to put the fuel in." He asked, to which Louise nodded.

Ascending onto the engine deck, Louise quickly went around and twisted open all four filler caps.

"Now In order to make sure it works properly." The man raised his staff, muttering several words to an incantation.

Liquid from all five caps shot up into the air, before fusing into one stream and entering the seemingly empty barrel.

The second barrel erupted with the same rainbowish liquid that poured into all five fuel caps, quickly filling the fuel tanks.

Louise swiftly acted when the liquid stopped flowing, twisting the caps shut.

"Now all you really need to do is st-" As if on command, the Sherman's engine roared to life.

"I-I-I-it worked!" Louise shouted in surprise from atop the engine deck.

"Yes, but I must ask, how did it start?"

Louise's eyes grew wider as reality hit her. "Tabitha!" She shouted, shimmying her way past the turret until she stood directly over the blue-haired girl who looked up at her blankly. "How did you do that?"

"Read the book."

"Book? What book!?" Louise asked too which Tabitha just raised the one in her lap. "Where did you get that?" She demanded.

"Right sponson. Last week."

Pursing her lips, Louise stomped over to the assistant driver's hatch and flung it open before dropping down into the hull.

"Louise," Colbert called out, grabbing her attention once more. "As much as i would love to stay, i really should catch back up on my sleep, if you have any questions feel free to stop by my cabin tomorrow before the Showcase."

R-R-Right." Louise answered back. before ducking back down into the hull. As soon as she was sat down, she opened up the nearest storage sponson but found nothing but shells.

"Near the back."

Grounding her teeth, Louise opened up the rear sponson and found a pile of books just sitting there.

"TM9-1731k, SNL G-104, FM23-50, FM23-65. Just what are these names?" Louise questioned.

"Secrecy."

"That leads me to another thing," Louise said turning towards her. "Don't you have a wind dragon? Why are you so interested in my Familiar?"

Tabitha only shrugged.

'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.' She told herself. But even with Tabitha's help, she would still need a loader and gunner. Or if worse comes to worst just a gunner.

But where would she get someone willing to help her?

"Louise!?" the distinct voice of Guiche shouted from outside the hull.

Standing back up, she saw Guiche standing at the entrance of the shed examining it. "What do you want Guiche?"

"There you are." He said walking over to her side of the tank. "I came because I need your help."

"Why do you need the help of a, in your own words, "Zero"?" Louise bluntly stated.

The boy visibly flinched at the accusation. "It's Montmorency. I've done her wrong, and I want to make it up to her."

"First, you haven't answered my question, second what did you do?" She asked.

"Cheat." The blue haired girl added.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Louise just shook her head. "Why did I expect anything different," she muttered to herself. "Why do you need my help?"

The earth mage stepped forward resting a hand on the side of the tank. "I wish to get a water sapphire, and turn it into a ring for my Monmon, I've found one but."

"But?"

Guiche rocked his head side to side. "There might be a pack of goblins guarding it."

And there it was. At least it was convenient for him to show up now.

"If you do this for me, I would be forever in your debt-"

"What do you know about cannons?"

"Huh?" Guiche mumbled, his mind seemingly slow to catch up.

"I need help with the familiar showcase tomorrow. More importantly, I need someone who can gun my tank, while I tell the crowd what it can do."

"Well, I know that commoners almost exclusively use it and that it's generally considered an unclean aspect of war."

"Well, it's better than nothing." She mumbled. "If, you want my help, climb into the turret and don't touch anything."

The earth mage looked up at the tank skeptically, before grabbing hold of one of the cabled hooks, and hoisting himself onto the hull.

The sound of, the blonde opening the hatch and crawling in, echoed throughout the tank.

"It's more cramp that I expected." He commented.

"Yeah, you're not the first to notice."

"Is that wine?"

"Yes, it is," Louise answered, turning towards the blue-haired girl. "Do you know how to put it into gear?"

Tabitha proceeded, to undo the parking brake, and shift into first rather easily. "Read the book."

"That you did," Louise mumbled.

"Say, Louise, where are we going?" Guiche questioned, as they left the shed.

"Tabitha needs to practice driving, and I need to see how well you can shoot the cannon." She told him

xXXXx

_**And that would be Chapter 4.**_

_**I hope you enjoyed, this chapter, i don't really have much to say about it.**_

_**Let me know what you think.**_

_**Have a great day or night or whenever, you read it.**_


	5. Chapter 5: The Sapphire

Montmorency walked with a brisk pace towards the newly built shed carrying a plain wooden box that leaked powder under her arm, and a mind full of questions.

The powder. It was something the likes of which she had never seen.

On the surface, it was black powder, but it was smokeless, and the chemicals were almost entirely different, it wasn't just sulphur and charcoal, in fact, there didn't seem to be any sulphur at all. There was nitrite and a whole host of other unassuming chemicals that made it up.

So where did it come from?

"Louise, I've got some questions for yo-" Her voice trailed off as she realized she was talking with an empty shed.

"Hey Guiche, where are you?" The unmistakable voice of Malicorne called out from behind her.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw the 'large' blonde haired mage coming around the corner.

"Ah, Montmorency, have you seen Guiche?" He asked.

"After what he did?" She scoffed. "If I never saw him again it would be too soon."

"I was just asking because I saw him come in here, most likely to speak with the zero and not soon after I saw that armoured carriage that Louise summoned run on out of the academy."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, maybe he already moved onto the zero." The boy chuckled.

Her veil of confidence faltered for a moment. With a hand on her hip, she spun away from the boy. "Don't be silly." She laughed. "He's probably just. You know, helping her with her earth magic." Yeah, that's it.

"I don't know. You know better than anyone how he is. And that familiar of hers. I wouldn't put it past him."

Trembling with rage, Montmorency walked over to a table as calm as she could and set the box down.

"You know I bet right now; they're off making plans for the summer." He said, continuing to laugh.

Pulling the wand from her hip, the blonde marched over to the laughing man and pointed it at him. "Aqua effusorium!" She shouted.

A powerful jet of water shot from her wand. Hitting and knocking the fat mage off balance.

As the jet ended, she made her move, raising her leg and stomping it on his foot, sending him to the ground.

Not giving the man another look, she walked past him and left the shed.

"I-I thought you didn't care." He muttered.

"I don't!"

Stomping out of the shed, she noticed two lines of tracks leading away from the shed.

Following them she eventually found herself gazing up at a horse-mounted Kirche seemingly doing the same.

"Kirche what are you doing?" She asked.

"Ah, Monmon." She said looking over the shoulder at her. "Louise and Tabitha left without saying a word, and I'm going to find them." The redhead said with a smug smile. "Want to come?"

"Well, I have something of Louise's to bring back to her. So it would save me a trip. She said crossing her arms and levitating herself onto the horse.

"But you're not carrying anything." Kirche pointed out.

"Just follow the tracks." The blonde spat

xXXXx

The Sherman sat at an overgrown crossroad, it's commander, and new gunner sat with their heads sticking out of the commander's cupola and loaders hatch respectively.

Through the thick foliage of the forest, Louise could just barely make out several tiny bodies, all moving about.

"How many do you see?" Louise asked to no one in particular, pulling the conjoined spyglasses away from her eyes an item that had been stashed away in a left side sponson.

"It's hard to say, when Malicorn, Reynald and I scouted the area yesterday we counted at least twenty," Guiche added. "But I can't see anything from here."

"And you Tabitha?"

"Sylpheed sees twenty-five."

"Sylpheed?" The pinkette questioned as she tilted her head towards the sky.

"Familiar sight." The driver explained.

Louise ducked back inside the turret as her mind got to work on a plan.

"Tabitha, start up the engine again and head up the road to our left and for all that is holy in the world, do not grind the gears like you did getting here."

"One time." She muttered.

The engine started once more, and immediately jerked into motion, as it turned, beginning to climb up the small hill.

"Say, Louise. What's the plan?" Guiche questioned.

"Depends. How much autonomy can you give your golems?" The commander asked.

Guiche looked at her skeptically. "Louise, I don't know what you're thinking, but I need to control my Valkyries." He said rubbing his forehead.

Louise began to stroke her chin in thought. They couldn't just rush them, not without their flanks covered.

"Wait, I got it!" Guiche shouted standing up and popping his head out of the turret.

Curious as to what the blonde was thinking, Louise did the same, finding him standing there with his rose shaped wand in his hand.

The ground around the tank began to glow, as four feminine brass golems rose out of the earth, all of them armed with spears and modelled to look like knights of old.

They quickly began to clamber up onto the engine deck and stood at each corner facing outwards, their spears ready to skewer any threat.

Guiche leaned back against the turret, arms crossed and a smug grin on his face. "This takes care of the movement problem, and I can use sound to judge the goblins movements."

"But what about the engine and cannon?" Louise questioned.

The blonde turned to her ever relaxed. "Then you'll just need to call them out."

Louise couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Either way, we're going to be running into the goblins soon. We need to get into position."

"Right." The blonde said ducking back into the tank, closing the hatch shut.

Doing the same, adjusted herself in the seat in an attempt to get comfortable, "So remember what I told you. Use the repeating musket only." She told him grabbing hold of the commander's turret control and beginning to scan their surroundings through the cupola.

The commander's mouth grew dry as the Sherman made its way over the terrain.

This sense of anticipation, only grew within her as she noticed the movement around her causing her grip to tighten on the controls.

'Perhaps they'll run off.' She hoped.

The journey up the road was a short one, as the Sherman, rolled over the hill, she saw a vast makeshift camp centred around a massive fire and full of the tiny, green, elf-like, creatures, with its back to what appeared to be an old mine shaft.

"Fire!" She blurted out, the blonde startled slammed his foot onto the button, firing the main gun.

The shell landed at the center of the pyre they had built, detonating on impact and sending bits of burning wood all over the place, igniting several of the animal skin huts that the goblins had built.

"Tabitha inch forward slowly. Guiche, turn to your right, there's a group trying to get to our rear." Louise ordered.

The blonde began to spin the traverse wheel instantly, while Louise ducked underneath the gun and took hold of a yellow tip shell and slamming it into the breach before getting back into position.

The turret quickly lined up on the goblins and began to fire the coaxial machine gun. The sound of which deafened the crew in a way the main cannon just couldn't.

They were defenceless from the thirty calibre bullets that tore through their simple leather armour and fragile child-like bodies.

Attempting a counterattack, they began to pelt Rocks and makeshift arrows at the front of the tank, doing little more than annoying the driver in the hull.

The turret spun, continuing to fire it's machine gun, killing group after group of Goblins, destroying any hope the goblins had.

Panic began to spread throughout the goblins populace as they saw how ineffective their attacks were, with many of them breaking off and running in any direction that was away from the looming metal beast.

As the tank came to the entrance of what was left of an abandoned town, it slowly dawned on her just how large this settlement was, or rather used to be, with what was left of the foundation making two neat parallel lines down the middle of the road to the mine at the far end

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed, a group of eight or so Goblins run into one of the larger and more intact buildings.

Tilting the turret controls forward, it began to spin until it was aimed and ready.

The tank shook as the shell left the barrel, penetrating the building through a broken window, and detonating inside, blasting it apart with ease, sending pieces of wood across the camp.

"Tabitha, turn to your left and run over the tent." She ordered noticing a goblin archer dashing into it.

The tank curved to the left and began to pick up speed, plowing into the tent and knocking it down, crushing whatever occupants lie inside

"Stop it here Tabitha."

The tank suddenly lurched to a stop atop the remains of the tent, as Louise popped opened the hatch.

All around the tank were remains of the disgusting creatures among the smouldering ruins of the goblin camp. The few that had survived the onslaught of machine gun fire and explosive shells had fled into either the surrounding forest or mine shaft.

But one more obstacle lay in their way.

"How likely is it Guiche that your sapphire is in that cave?" Louise asked.

"Goblins may be stupid and child-like, but they know that the best way to keep their items secured is to keep it as far away from the enemies as possible." He explained.

Louise hummed as her an idea popped into her head.

Ducking back down into the turret and underneath the gun, she grabbed and loaded a shell. "So how are you planning to get the goblins out of there?" Guiche asked.

"Shouldn't that be your job since you asked me for help?" Guiche could only stare back in bewilderment. "But if you must know, I have. All you need to do is aim at the cave and fire."

The blonde looked at her skeptically before turning back to his instruments.

Popping open the loaders hatch, Louise pulled herself out and sat on top of the turret.

The turret ground to a halt, its gun set on the cave, and with a deafening boom, sent its payload deep into the mine.

"did it even do anything?" Guiche asked popping out of the turret.

"Ineffective," Tabitha added.

A scowl formed on the pinkette's face. "It takes time to work," Louise said, crossing her arms.

Not a minute later, smoke began to pour out of the mineshaft, coming from deep within.

"But I have to ask, how can a goblin camp get so big?" Louise asked to no one in particular.

"Probably has something to do with that thief running around," Guiche replied

"Fouquet? But how does a thief cause a boom in the goblin population?"

"Lords hold back their forces from patrolling to strengthen the defence of their estate." Tabitha elaborated.

"Allowing Goblins to run amuck," Louise concluded

"Hey, Louise!" The unforgettable voice of kirche called out from behind her.

Rubbing her forehead, Louise responded. "What do you want kirche?" She said with a sigh.

"Just wondering why you ran off with Tabitha without telling me."

"If you _must_ know I was out here helping Guiche get a dumb sapphire." She explained.

"And that involved killing goblins?" The redhead asked.

"Look they had it, and Guiche wanted it."

"But what does that have to do with you?" She countered.

"Because I need help with the showcase!" She shouted.

"Well, all you needed to do was ask."

Louise knew that at that moment, Kirche was wearing the biggest smuggest smile she could muster.

Tossing her legs off the side of the turret, she dropped down onto the uneven ground below. "Come on Guiche let's go get that stupid stone and leave." She stated.

Guiche and his Valkyries quickly disembarked from the vehicle and caught up with Louise heading towards the smoke-filled cave.

Guiche leaned in close to her. "Listen Louise." He whispered. "Montmorency is here, so please don't tell her anything. I want to keep it a surprise."

"Fine."

A faint scream from the cave, caused the pair to stop dead in their tracks.

The Valkyries rushed forward, forming a U shape formation at the cave's opening, with their spears at the ready.

A goblin who clenched at its throat with its tiny hand stumbled out through the smoke, and into the daylight.

Not giving it a single chance, the Valkaries lunged at it with their spears in union, skewering the monster.

"Not, what I was expecting, but I suppose that works too." Louise mumbled to herself.

"Huh? What did you expect to happen?" Guiche asked wide-eyed.

Louise walked forward and crouched down at the goblin looking it over for any burns. "Well, what you shot at them supposedly burnt through a griffin's leg, I was expecting it to burn the whole lot of them. But if their anything like this one, they're probably still alive."

"Tabitha says Suffocation." The redhead girl added from right behind them.

"Look, Kirche, I didn't ask for your help here, so just go back to the tank and wait for us."

The fire mage hummed. "I don't think Montmorency would like that."

"What do you me-" Louise stopped dead in her tracks, seeing an absolutely seething Montmorency staring at her with killing intent. "Ah, I see what you mean."

"And besides, it would be best to have a fire mage with you if you're clearing out a goblins nest." Kirche pointed out.

The scowl on the pinkette's face grew harder. "Fine, you can be between Guiche and his Valkyries at the front."

"Doesn't really matter, if that goblin is any indication, all of them should be dead." She added.

"Well it shouldn't come to that in the first place," Guiche told the pair, receiving two confused looks in return. Raising his wand, it glowed, for but a moment before returning to its normal red and green coloured.

The confusion grew between the two girls, as the spell seemingly did nothing. "Wha-" Before she could finish that thought, the earth began to shake, a small hole opening up at his feet.

Before either girl could react, the sizeable furry face of the earth mage's familiar popped out of the ground. "Ah, Veroandi. You came." The earth mage said with a wide smile, crouching down and hugging the mole.

"Ok, but what does this have to do with us not needing to go into the mine?" The redhead asked.

"Simple, I use Familiar sight to see through my Veroandi's vision, and use that to control my golems." He explained, looking up from his spot.

"Wow, that's, actually smart," Louise commented.

"Well, I am the son of a famous General, so it should be expected that I have a good grasp on tactics." He laughed

Guiche stood back up and had his Valkyries take an arrowhead formation in front of his familiar and began to march forward into the cave.

"Won't you be blind with how dark it is?" Kirche asked.

"Earth moles spend most of their lives underground, giving them rather poor eyesight, but because they are so in tune with the earth, they make up for that by being able to notice any vibrations in the ground, giving them a sort of, earthvision I guess. So, to answer your question, no I won't."

"Well, if you need me, I'll be looking over the tank," Louise told the group leaving them.

However as she returned to her familiar she couldn't help but notice the red stains on her tank's tracks.

Looking up at her driver for an explanation, she just shrugged.

xXXXx

It wasn't long before Guiche had his prize, the white phosphorous did its job in that it consumed all the oxygen in the cave suffocating all the goblins that had sought shelter within its rock walls.

With this job done, and Guiche's help secured, the group had the lengthy hour-long journey back to the academy.

But Louise was anything but happy, if anything she downright had a panic attack. The carriage that had just passed through the crossroads, they were heading towards barred an emblem that sent terror down her spine.

The mark of a manticore.

The mark of her Family.

xXXXx

_**And with that, we end chapter 5.**_

_**Again don't have much to say, other then I hope you guys like it, and let me know what you think, I read and appreciate every review I get be it positive or negative.**_


	6. Chapter 6: A small break

_**Before i start the chapter i just wanted to point to the new cover page. It's a picture i commissioned of Louise wearing a ww2 french tanker uniform.**_

_**With that out of the way, here is chapter six.**_

xXXXx

If there was something that Osmond learned throughout his life, it was how to navigate the political sphere of Halkeginia with ease.

From the lowest of merchants to royalty, he had conversed dealt with all. It was the reason for his eccentric personality, no one ever suspected an old man who acted aloof.

However, there was one person who saw through his act, one person who even when he had the upper hand, scared him, one person who always made sure to know anything and everything about the person she was dealing with.

Lady Valliere.

Even as he gazed down at the carriage that had arrived some time ago, he could feel her hard gaze on his back which wasn't helped by the fact that no matter where she went she was armed and armoured, even if the extravagant pink dress she wore never looked like it had metal plates hidden underneath them.

"It's not often the heavy wind stops by the academy." He turned to face her, pipe in hand. "I do believe the last time was when you brought your third daughter on her first day." Her stare hardened. "So, what can I do for you."

Karin looked him up and down. "As you know, the thief Fouquet has been on the loose in this area for the past few months. As such the court believes that she may be planning a heist on the academy and has asked me to act as both a guard to the young princess and to inspect the academy's vault for any tampering."

The shattering of percaline echoed throughout the room pulling their attention to the young green haired secretary Longueville, hunched over attempting to clean up the spilled tea and broken cup. "I'm terribly sorry." She apologized. "I'll go get more right away."

"Never mind the tea," She stopped the girl with a raised hand. "I'm not particularly thirsty,"

Osmond stood up from his seat. "I'll clean it up Lougueville. Me and lady Valliere need to speak in private." Osmond explained.

The secretary gave a small bow before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

"A new secretary? I do hope you ran the appropriate checks on her." Karin asked turning back around to face him.

The man took a puff of his pipe sitting back down. "I know my staff." He stated setting his pipe on its stand. "I've been taking the appropriate measures in the face of a possible heist. But I do wonder if there isn't another reason for your arrival?" He questioned.

Karin crossed her arms. "I won't deny that the rumours surrounding my daughter's new familiar have piqued my interest. But I must restate that my main reason for being here is to make sure that those items within that vault aren't stolen." She finished.

Osmond stood up with his pipe, taking another puff of it. "Well then, may I show you what we've done in preparation."

"That would be best." Karin agreed.

xXXXx

The tank slowed to a stop within the shed, every member within happy to be back at the academy, all except Louise who sat on commander's seat, hunched over clenching her arms running over her stomach and clenching her sides in an attempt to stop the trembling that had consumed since she had seen the carriage.

'Why? Why was she here.'

It didn't make sense to her. In all her time at the academy, her mother never once visited, so again why?

A hand came into view and rested on her leg, breaking her from her trance. Following the arm, she met Kirche looking at her concerned. "You ok?" She asked.

She wanted to say yes, to tell her just to leave her alone. But she couldn't.

Tightening the grip of herself. "No." She muttered, lowering her gaze back to the floor.

Kirche reached over her and flipped the hatch opened. Kirche gripped her shoulders sending a shiver down her spine. "Alright Louise, let's get you out of here. Guiche already left and I think we should do the same."

Louise shook her head frantically. "No, I... can't leave this tank. I can't face her." She told the redhead, slamming her eyes shut. "She was always against me coming here, if... if... if she doesn't like my familiar, she'll pull me out. I have no doubt."

"Who?"

"Mother," Louise mumbled.

An eyebrow popped up on the redhead's face "The heavy wind?"

Louise bobbed her head up and down. "Yes,"

"Well, I'm sure you're just overblowing it."

"I'm not!" She shouted, sitting back up. "She's determined to pull me out, I just know it!" Her grip tightened.

Kirche leaned back into the gunner's seat. "Do you have any proof of her doing that?"

"No," Louise muttered to herself. "But I summoned a plebian weapon." Her hands left her hips and rested in front of her as tears began to form in her eyes. "Which is just as well. A mage as good at magic as a commoner summons a weapon fit for on" ***SLAP***

Louise sat in silence, not even sure what had happened, only that her cheek now burned.

"Louise, you are always going on about how you're smarter than me and that I'm just a Germanian harlot with more breasts then brain, and while you are smarter than me, right now your acting as dumb as a bag of rocks."

Looking up at the redhead with wide eyes, slowly touching her red cheek. "You... Slapped me." She muttered.

"Because you're acting hysterical." She pointed out. "Your familiar may be plebian in nature, but it was able to raze a goblin village by itself. Something that would take a team of triangle mages to do, not to mention the fact that you were able to clear a goblin-infested cave without so much as a thought, something that would take a square level earth or wind mage to pull off with the same amount of effort."

Louise turned away from her in shame.

Grabbing the pinkette's head Kirche forced her to look her in the eyes. "Look if you don't want to face her then don't, this tank is quite quick so why don't we just head to the capital, get some food and drink, and come back after supper?"

"But?"

"But nothing Louise. We have no obligations here until tomorrow." She explained, "We can be gone until it's our turn in the showcase."

Louise thought it over several times, but every single time she could hear her mother shout. "Don't run away from your problems!" causing her to bite her lip.

Standing up she pushed open the hatch. "Look, I'm alright."

Kirche grabbed her by the shoulders and with her superior strength forced her back down to the seat. "No, you're being stubborn." The girl shot her gaze over her shoulder. "Tabitha, take us to the charming fairies inn!"

The engine started once again, and in a moment, they began to move once again. Louise shoved the girl's hands off of her shoulder, but before she could exploit this opening, she was suddenly smothered in a vice-like hug from the fire mage that made any movements in her upper body impossible.

Louise barred her teeth. "Let me go Kirche!" She shouted; her panic replaced with anger.

"Nope. We're going to avoid your mother the right way. And be sure to take the side roads, we want to avoid the royal carriage."

"Got it."

Seeing no alternative, she relaxed, "There, can you let me go?"

"Nope."

Sighing, Louise got herself ready for the hour-long trip.

xXXXx

The inn was packed full of people, most of which collected around the windows to gawk at her familiar that was parked outside. Which was an issue in of itself.

Getting it into the city was fairly tricky as the guards didn't really like the idea of an armoured carriage armed with a cannon trotting around the city. However, it was then Kirche decided to step in, popping out of the loaders hatch and decrying that "This is a Valliere's familiar and that they are impeding on important business of the highest importance." Which caused the guards to step aside, and let us through.

That wasn't the last of the issues as when they first entered the inn, the commoners wanting a better view of the tank began climbing all over it. Kirche left and fixed it, she didn't know how but it didn't matter, so long as the plebeians stayed off her tank that was all that mattered.

The rest of the customers sat around chatting about gods knows what and save for the occasional eruption of laughter from one of the groups of patrons, she couldn't drag her mind away from her mother, what was she doing there?

"Come on Louise eat up. That slice of beef costs quite a bit of money." Kirche told her, dragging her from her thoughts and to the slice of still warm meat in front of her. "So, as I was saying, we can probably get Guiche to make us some golems for me to shoot at in your familiar."

Louise shook her head as if she was clearing her mind. "I'm sorry, but when did you start planning my showcase?"

"Since you needed help?" Kirche pointed out, taking a bite out of her bread. "And besides, we all know that I'm the master at presentation, while you're better at the tearing down aspect." She stated bluntly.

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"You're not trembling anymore, so I say that's progress."

Sighing, Louise picked up her fork and knife and began, cutting at the meat. She supposed that Kirche was right in that regard, she had calmed down since they had left the academy.

Stabbing a slice of beef, she brought the fork to her mouth and took a bite of it.

The exotic flavour forced her eyes wide, the blend of sweet tender meat with the spiciness of its spices worked together to make this meal like nothing she ever had before. "I-it's, good?" She sputtered.

"Ooh?" Kirche hummed laying her head on her hand. "Did you expect differently?"

"No, it's just. When I saw the waitresses, I figured that was th-"

"The only reason why this place is open was that it had good looking girls?" Kirche said finishing her sentence turning her gaze to the servers who were all good-looking women and all wore flamboyant maid outfits that seemed to be a few sizes too small. "While they do have their charm, it's only one aspect, that makes this place special," Kirche explained.

"In what way?"

Kirche turned her gaze back to her. "Well wine for one, from the rumours I heard they get their wine from the vineyard their family owns which is rather special in its own right. Speaking of." Kirche stood up. "Scarron, give me a bottle of Tarbes finest!" She hollered.

"Right away." A voice that shattered the calmness that had built up within her.

Looking over her shoulder, her grip on her utensils harden when she saw him. An extremely muscular man who stood at least six foot five, walking over to them wearing nothing but shorts that stopped halfway down the thigh, a half shirt that only covered his pectoral muscles and high heeled boots.

"Here you are Kirche~" He said puckering his already large lips and setting down the bottle, before running off back to work.

Louise shot back to Kirche with a look of horror on her face. "How does he know you?"

"Because this was where I worked when I first arrived in Tristian."

"You worked here?"

Sighing she continued. "My parents wanted to teach me the value of money, so when I was sixteen and was supposed to be enrolled into the academy, they kicked me out with nothing but fifty marks. Around twenty or so ecu's"

Louise could only stare in disbelief, at her rival. "That's hardly enough to live on for a few days."

"Which is why I got a job here. My tips were rather large as I satisfied the more exotic tastes of their customers." She looked out at the customers with a nostalgic smile. "The point is that when they felt I learned the value of a hard day's work they enrolled me into the academy which was why I was so late in joining the school compared to you."

The fire mage let out a sudden laugh.

"We came here for you yet here we are talking about me." She reached out and grabbed the wine bottle and popped off the cork. "Tabitha, pass me the glasses."

Tabitha didn't even look away from the book in her hand and passed two drinking glasses to Kirche.

"Not having any?"

"Bad for horse riding, bad for tank driving."

"Oh, right," Kirche muttered. "Well, that means more for us." The redhead said her smile returning as she poured out the bottle.

"we can't drink all that," Louise stated pointing at the bottle.

Kirche looked at her with a sly smile. "Are you saying that a Valliere is intimidated by a bottle of wine?"

Letting out of huff, she crossed her arms. "Of course not."

"Then drink," Kirche asked setting down the bottle.

She pulled the glass closer as she gazed down into the purple liquid. In the glass, she realized what she had just done. Looking up at her rival, she found her already having finished the drink, and was in the process of filling it up once again.

Was she taking this as a challenge? Was this what that was? What did she expect of her, she wasn't a drinker, at least not like Kirche here. She drank casually, at supper time and in a way that accentuated the meal as was the elegant Valliere way.

'What am I talking about, she was a Zerbst, and I'm a Valliere.'

She clenched her hand into a fist as she gripped the glass with a free hand. The life of a Valliere was dignified, but even they could outperform the Zerbst in undignified acts.

Bringing the glass to her mouth, she slammed it back, the same way she saw kirche did.

And immediately regretted it.

Her gag reflex forced the liquid back up and out all over the table in a massive coughing fit.

"It's not a race Louise." The fire mage told her, getting a stink eye in return. "I'm just saying it's sweet, you're supposed to enjoy this wine."

Gazing back at the glass, she raised it to her mouth, this time only taking a small sit to test the wine. Her eyes widened at the taste. It was sweet, sweeter than any wine that she had had before this.

A smile formed on the redhead's face. "There it is."

Finishing the glass, Louise set it back down on the table gesturing for more. Kirche did as she was asked and filled up her cup.

If there was something that was true, it was that there was nothing better to forget your troubles then wine from Tarbes.

xXXXx

Kirche felt panic creep up her spine as she looked down at the pink-haired girl, passed out on the table next to several bottles of wine.

"Perhaps... I overdid it." She mumbled.

"Your fault," Tabitha muttered, turning a page in her book.

xXXXx

_**Well, Louise and Kirche seem to be getting on better terms, maybe.**_

_**Either way, i hope you enjoyed this chapter and be sure to let me know what you think.**_

_**Have a great day.**_


	7. Chapter 7:A night in the academy

To say things had gotten worse since they left the inn would be an understatement.

It started when Louise woke up after having been placed in the tank. That's when the screaming started.

"Germanian cow, let me go this instant, this is a kidnapping." Was the accusation of choice and something that she repeated at least a dozen times in her drunken state before Kirche was able to convince her that they were on their way to the academy in _her_ familiar.

After that, it was just a matter of waiting until they arrived.

Which, when they did, only added to the redheads fear.

For one Lady Valliere's carriage was there sat next to the royal carriage it's manticore emblem easily visible even in the dark of night. Second was the royal guards patrolling the dark grounds, who would no doubt spread rumours if they saw the young Valliere.

But the thing that was giving her the most headache was Louise herself.

Laying atop the tank turret, hand clasp on the smaller girl's uniform, the only issue. "No, let go of me. I don't want to get out of my familiar!" Was that they were back at square one.

She pulled harder on the pink haired girl. "Come on Louise. You need to get to bed." Kirche grunted, pulling harder.

"No. Don't wanna," Louise stated.

'She's like a damn child.' The redhead thought, continuing to tug. "Your mother is going to be very mad if she finds her like this."

Instead of recoiling in fear like she figured she would, the girl just chuckled. "She can't punis-***Hic*** me if she can't find me."

Kirche barred her teeth. "Tabitha."

A sudden gust of wind shot out of the hatch, knocking the fire mage back onto the engine deck and yanking the pinkette out of her hidey hole, who flopped onto the ground some few feet away from the tank.

Quickly getting into action, she hopped down from the tank and pulled Louise back onto her feet, quickly dusting herself off and prying the wine bottle from her small hands. "Give that to me." She stated.

"No." Louise shot back, "It's from _my_ familiar it's mine." Looking over her shoulder to find Tabitha, she saw something that she completely forgot about.

On the side of the tank in bright white paint were the words _'Property of Lady Valliere do not touch' _The white lie she came up with to keep the commoners off of the tank while they ate.

"Tabith-"

"Right here." The blue haired girl muttered appearing right next to her startling the fire mage.

"You really need to learn how to have fun in a way that isn't startling people," Kirche stated. "But that's beside the point, I need you to watch Louise while I go get a cure for her inebriation of Monmon."

The girl turned a page in her book. "Not my job."

Louise yanked herself from the redhead's grip. "You'll never take me alive you Germanian dog-" She attempted only to be silenced when Kirche yanked her by the hood of her cloak.

Pulling her close and getting her into a vice-like hug, she turned back to her friend and pleaded once more. "Please, I'm willing to do anything. If Valliere hears about this, she'll kill me." Kirche explained.

The girl sighed and closed her book. "Be quick." She muttered.

A smile dawned on the redheads face, letting go of the girl.

Louise broke out into a sprint to the exit but was stopped short of her goal, as she was hoisted into the air by Tabitha who brought her to a dark corner of the shed and forced her to sit. "Stay." She ordered her like a man to his dog.

"Thank you Tabitha." Kirche said leaving the pair behind.

Now alone, Tabitha levitated herself on to the engine deck, sitting with her legs hanging off the side and got back to reading her novel. Looking back every now and again to make sure her prisoner wasn't moving.

"Hey, why don't you let me go?" Louise started grabbing her attention. "She's a German, and you're a Gallie, you guys have border disputes all the time. So how about we team up and push the Germans out of Tristian's territory like in the last Germa- Germanie- germano-." Pausing to take a breath, she continued. "the last war?"

She only shook her head. "Promised."

"I promised myself I would esca-***Hic*** though."

"Sorry to hear you can't keep it," Tabitha muttered turning the page.

When she didn't receive a response in return, she looked up from her book, finding the corner empty. Eyes widening, she stood up and looked around, finding the pink-haired girl nowhere to be seen.

A sudden gust of wind brought her attention to the open window sitting ten feet over the girl's former corner.

"How." She muttered to herself.

xXXXx

The tower of wind was, thankfully, devoid of traffic, as familiar and student alike rested for the big day tomorrow.

Something that she should be doing if it wasn't for her stupid, stupid idea. Reaching the water mage's room without so much as disturbing a mouse, Kirche softly knocked on Montmorency's dorm room. "Monmon, I need her help." She silently whispered at the door.

The redhead waited a few moments, before trying again, this time hearing something stir in response.

When the stirring stopped a few moments later, she knocked again. "I'm coming," A drowsy sounding Montmorency said through the door. It was slowly opened, revealing a dishevelled Montmorency wiping her eyes. "Kirche? What do you want?"

Kirche planted both her hands on the girl's shoulders. "I screwed up, and I need your help."

"What did you do?" The blonde asked with a yawn.

"I may have gotten Louise drunk, and if her mother finds out, I'm as good as dead."

The blonde pushed her hands off of her. "It's fine." She waved it off. "The Valliere's lands are three day's away, she won't find out." She told her, turning and attempting to close the door, only for the redhead to stop her.

"She's here."

The blonde instantly froze, her grip tightening on the door. "She's... here?" the water mage muttered.

"Yes."

There was a pregnant pause between the pair breaking the fluidity of their conversation. "Let me get dressed."

xXXXx

Louise stumbled through the silent halls of the central tower with tears streaming down her face, bottle in one hand, knife in another and thoughts that filled her head, hiccupping every now and again.

She had screwed up again.

Just like always.

This was just another zero to add to her repertoire. Zero magical ability, zero accuracy, zero height. Raising the wine bottle to her mouth, she took another swig of the sour and bitter tasting wine. Zero self-control.

Stumbling around a corner, her shoulder impacted the solid stone wall with a soft thud.

From her place, she saw two guards speaking to each other. "Woah, is that lady Vallieres daughter?" a youthful looking guard no doubt asked.

"Seems so." the one to his side said, a veteran whose eyes spoke of the countless battles he was in. "To think that the heavy wind would produce such a girl. Truly a zero." He said.

Barring her teeth, Louise shot her arm up, pointing the wine bottle at the pair. "You don't know anythi-***Hic***, about me." She gritted out. "My magic is powerful."

Pushing herself off the wall, she stepped forward, and slipped on the spilt wine, tumbling to the cold floor, dropping her knife. "Yeah right, you're as powerful as a frail old commoner." The younger of the two said in response.

"I could probably beat you with but a single finger." The veteran said, passing her by her without giving her so much as a glance.

Massaging her throbbing head, Louise pushed herself up to her feet. What did they know. She was strong, she knocked out the heavy wind with one of her explosions when she was eight.

Stumbling forward with her shoulder still firmly pressed up against the wall, she took another drink of the wine.

Finding a set of stairs up the tower, she grabbed hold of the railing and begin to carry herself up.

There had been a question that had plagued her mind since she escaped from the shed. It was something that she hadn't really thought about before, but it was something that had pulled her down from her sense of euphoria.

It was how alone she was.

In her entire time at the academy, she had no guests, no one ever came to see her, not cattleya not Henrietta no one. How had she not noticed sooner? Was this because of her explosions? Because she was a zero?

Cattleya had good reason to visit her but the princess? She was only a few hours away by carriage, proven by the fact that she was able to get there and back tonight.

_But that was with your familiar._

"So, what, my Familiar's deeds are my own." She said aloud to herself.

But what of Wardes, her own Fiancé? Could he not spare the time to come and see her? Or had the rumours reached him. Perhaps he had already begun to accrue mistresses even before their wedding. Holding the tears back as best she could, she continued the trek up the tower.

Soon coming to the top of the stairs, she found herself at the entrance to a very ornate looking hallway. The red carpet that covered the floor looked extremely expensive, which went hand in hand with the countless portraits of prominent Tristianian figures that lined the hall.

Losing her balance, she fell back the only thing stopping her from tumbling down the staircase was the railing that she clung too for dear life with both hands, letting the wine battle tumble down the stairs behind her.

Hoisting herself back up, she began to stumble down the hall as the eyes of old lords and royalty stared down at her, all of them better than her, all of them placed into history books as winners but then again.

Would she be remembered?

Would people waste ink to remember her name?

Perhaps they would, at least to have an example of what a worthless noble looks like.

Coming to a large steel door opposite to a window with a gorgeous view of the land around her, stopping her in her tracks.

Steel.

The rule of steel.

The rule that had dictated her life on how a noble was supposed to act.

She couldn't tell if it was coincidence or not, but sitting beside the door was a portrait of her mother, looking down on her like she always did.

What else was to be expected. She was the black sheep of the family, their embarrassment. That mistake that you wished never happened.

Perhaps she was the reason why they hadn't had any more children.

Pushing down the feelings creeping up her spine, she turned towards the window.

'What a beautiful night.' she thought to herself, unlatching the window she pushed it open.

xXXXx

"What do you mean she isn't here!?" Kirche shouted at Tabitha, who only stared blankly at her.

"Escaped."

"And you didn't go and try to find her?" Kirche asked Rubbing her forehead.

"If I leave, then you wouldn't know."

"How did she escape?" Tabitha said nothing and only pointed up at the window still left ajar. "How did she get up there?" To which the wind mage shrugged her shoulders.

"We still have time to find her," Montmorency told the girl placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Right." Kirche started turning towards her. "We should split up, meet back at Louise's room in one hour."

Montmorency nodded in agreement. "I'll look through the wind and water towers."

"Fire and earth." Tabitha silently added.

"Then that leaves me with the central tower."

The trio quickly left the shed and split up each heading their own separate way, but as Kirche rushed forward towards the tower, she couldn't help but feel intimidated at the size. How was she supposed to find Louise in there?

As if answering her calls, she watched as an explosion rocked the tower, black smoke pouring out of one of the windows near the top floor.

Swallowing down her fear, she rushed into the tower, praying to be the first to reach her.

xXXXx

View obscured by the black smoke, lungs burning and hearing ringing, she swatted the air in front of her in a vain hope to dispel the toxic fumes.

The smoke soon cleared, allowing the pinkette to see the steel door and portrait of her mother now in pieces.

"Told you I was powerfu-***Hic* **Even the great heavy wind falls before me" She stated, stumbling forward into the torch-lit room.

All around her were piles of items, of varying from busts of notable figures and furniture, too weapons and shells of various make. But the second category usually had an otherworldly feel to them. Pistols that didn't use a matchlock or flintlock firing system. Cannons like the one in her tank mounted on two wheels.

'Where am I?' She thought to herself as she holstered her wand.

Walking over to one of the piles, she grabbed hold of a weapon that looked sort of like a musket, if they added a handle at the end of the barrel above the trigger.

"Kar98?" She muttered to herself. Somehow, through the fog in her mind, she knew that It was Germanian.

No, that was wrong. It was German.

Raising it up to her shoulder, she looked down the sights for a brief moment, before tucking it under her arm and pulling the bolt back, ejecting a round.

Setting the rifle down, she turned her attention to another thing that caught her eye. It looked to be a metal box with two rectangular openings on it's top.

Yawning, she picked it up and tucked it under her shoulder before turning her attention to a velvet lounging chair.

Stumbling over to it, she laid down and began to look it over.

She didn't know why, but it made her chuckle. A metal box. Perhaps that's why her runes didn't work on it, too dumb for even it to figure out.

The softness of the chair constricted her movement, and like the sirens of the north. The world of dreams called to her.

Rolling onto her side, Louise closed her eyes and slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.

"Get up." A soft, playful voice called out to her. But she did not obey.

"Get up Louise." It repeated. Her eyes slowly parted, revealing the blurry world around her.

"I won't repeat myself."

looking up towards the source, a smile dawned on her face, her mood instantly improving. "Cattleya~?" She questioned her voice slurred. "Just five more minutes." She told her closing her eyes once more.

"Louise!" The voice had turned stern, with it sounding more like an order then a plea.

Opening her eyes once more the image was now clear. It was her mother staring down at her. "Ah, mother, Just another five minutes please." She pleaded in a slurred speech, closing her eyes once more.

"Take her."

Before she could react, she felt two sets of arms slip underneath her armpits, hoisting her up, and beginning to drag her away.

"Too the ballroom my liege," Louise ordered before falling back asleep.

xXXXx

_**And here is where canon really goes out the window. **_

_**Anyway's I hope you enjoyed it, be sure to let me know what you think, and have a great day.**_


	8. Chapter 8: A new job

The atmosphere of Old Osmond's office was thick with dread. It was something that affected them both.

Karin who was known for her unwavering stern attitude sat across from him, arms crossed and shaking one of her legs.

"So, to reiterate what you've told me. Your daughter, while drunk, forced her way into the vault with one of her _unique_ spells, grabbed one of the artifacts and fell asleep on that lounging chair." Osmond asked pinching the bridge of his nose.

"That is what I believed happened, yes," Karin stated not an ounce of emotion in her words.

In all his years he had never had a headache as bad as this one so much so that the medicinal plant he smoked did little to cull the pain. "To think she had such power behind those explosions of hers. If this were to get out," He started.

"Generals would be clamouring to use my daughter, and you would be replaced." "She finished.

The man hummed. "I'm not so much worried about myself, but you are right if we are pulled into another war, she would certainly be sent to the front as nothing more than a siege engine." The man said, pouring another glass of Germanian Rum.

"I've already begun making arraignments to pull my daughter out of the academy."

Osmond rolled the pipe to the other side of his mouth. "That won't do." He told her with a wave of her hand. "The rumours aren't going to go away so easily. No, something else has to happen in order to stop the spread of rumours."

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"I do. We change the story." When Karin didn't say anything, he continued. "Your daughter has a bit of a reputation at the academy centred around being magically inept, and I doubt anyone would believe that she could break into the vault by herself."

"Then how do you explain the vault?"

"Simple, Fouquet," Osmond explained raising the glass to his lips and taking a quick drink.

The woman's leg stilled and she leaned forward. "That still leaves Louise, we need to make sure such an event never happens again, it was by chance that I was here when it happened."

"I do believe I have an idea, as the saying goes idle hands are a demon's toolbox."

xXXXx

A groan escaped Louise's lips, as she slowly began to wake up. Her back ached in several places and It felt as if a carpenter was nailing a board to the inside of her head.

It wasn't helped by the musky smell of her room, no doubt caused by that damn water mage above her, probably having spilt water again leading to another case of mold.

Opening her eyes, revealed an unfamiliar ceiling above her, with cobblestone replacing the regular wooden roof of her room.

Panic overtook any feeling of pain within her. Breathing harder she sat up and began to frantically look around finding herself in what looked to be a prison cell if the barred-up door was anything to go by.

The headache struck again, forcing a grunt out of her mouth as she massaged her throbbing head.

She let out a deep breath as the pain passed. "What happened last night?" She muttered to herself.

They had taken her Familiar and razed a goblin camp, then she had a bout of panic when she saw her mother's personal carriage which was followed by Kirche taking her to the charming spirits inn for food and drink, then what?

Looking down at herself, she found her uniform still on her, which meant that she never made it to bed.

A furious scowl formed on her face. Whatever the reason was for her to be in this situation that Zerbst tramp had to be the cause she just knew it.

Osmond's speech at the beginning of the year about how this was where family rivalries could be peacefully settled for the next generation. Garbage.

Kirche saying how she wanted to leave the family revelries behind on her first day of being here. Garbage.

Tossing her legs over the side of the bed, she attempted to stand up, only for a sudden onslaught of dizziness to force her to lean on the bedpost for support as she waited for it to pass which, thankfully, it did rather quickly.

Instead of relief, the pain was replaced with nausea and a creeping sense of bile rising from within her.

Eyes wide as the vomit attempted to force its way out of her mouth, she rushed over to the corner of the room, and opened her mouth, letting it out into a conveniently placed bucket.

When it finally ended, Louise could only sigh as she fell back onto the floor with a groan as the pain returned.

She sat on the floor for what felt like hours, battling against the pain, until it finally conceded faded away, leaving her alone in her cell.

Slowly getting up from the cold stone floor, she turned her attention to the door, picking herself up she walked over to it and peered through the bars, finding a torch lit hall devoid of windows.

But besides that, observation, there didn't seem to be any other things of note that could help place her in the world which only made the dread within her grow. "Hello?" A sudden spark of pain in her head silenced her for a moment. "Is anyone out there!?" She winced.

"Keep it down. Some people are trying to eat in peace." A gruff male voice shot back.

A faint sense of relief cropped up within her. At least she wasn't in Germania if that man's grasp of Tristian was anything to go by.

_That still leaves Gallia and Albion if you take into account foreign speakers_

Louise began to tremble in fear.

If she was in Albion, then there was no doubt that she would be in Reconquista's hands and that only meant.

Leverage.

They were going to use her to bargain with Tristian.

But for what?

The most likely use for her would be to get Tristian to stop supporting the monarchy in Albion, cut off their supplies.

Sweet began to build on her forehead. 'I have to find a way out of here.'

Thinking back to the countless adventure books she had read as a kid, she began to walk around the room, tapping on the wall with a closed fist.

It took time, but eventually, she found what she was looking for. The back of her cell sounded different from the other walls, a way out.

It was only then did it dawn on her that she had no tools to get through the cold cobblestone walls.

"I got you your pipe." A new voice started. "I didn't know the academy had a prison block."

'Academy?'

"Thanks," The first man replied. "I didn't figure it had one either, but I guess it makes sense considering this used to be a fortress... You got a light... Thanks."

If they were telling the truth, then she may still be at the academy. But why was she here?

"Is this Albionese hemp?" The first guy asked, surprise lacing his voice.

His partner chuckled. "Yep, best enjoy that too, with the fall of Londonium I don't think we'll be getting any more imports any time soon."

"Londonium fell?" The first man asked.

"Yep, although I'm more surprised that it lasted this long, how long has it been since the siege started? A year?"

"If you're asking how long the current siege has lasted you would be right. But still, how did they do it?"

Eyes wide, Louise sneaked over to the door and attempted to peer out at her captors but found that she just couldn't find them with how restricted her view was.

"They gained air supremacy. The HMS George had left to go resupply at a port, and while it was rearming, the rebels snuck aboard, captured it, flew it back to Londonium under the guise that they were loyalists, and when they were in the center of the defence fleet, unleashed all seventy of their cannons at the ships around them. Then it was just a matter of bombing the city into submission, and planting a flag on the ruins."

'Those rebel brutes.'

"What of the royal family?" The first captor asked.

His partner chuckled once more. "They left early in the siege. They just didn't want to lose the symbol of their power."

"Stubborn till the end?"

"Yeah, you can sa-. Captain!?" The guard suddenly shouted, surprised.

"Is she up?" A new voice that sounded oddly like her mother asked

"Y-Yes she is."

The clacking of boots boomed in her ears forcing Louise to back away from the doors. The barred window to the outside hall darkened, the light obscured by whoever was coming to see her.

With a soft click, the door was unlocked and pushed opened, revealing her captor's leader.

"Mo-Mother?" Louise stuttered.

The captain said nothing and slowly marched into the room, her hands hidden behind her back, adding to her imposing stature. "Do you know why you are here Louise?"

"uh..." No matter how hard she thought, she couldn't remember a reason why she would be here.

Her mother only looked down at her. "Last night you did something that would get any other person thrown out of the academy." Her whole body went tense. "While drunk you ascended the central tower and in what I can only assume was a fit of rage destroyed the headmaster's office."

Her eyes went wide. She wouldn't do such a thing, would she? "I'm, sor-" Before she could finish the apology she was silenced by her mother's raised hand.

"Words are cheap, the total cost to rebuild his office isn't, and seeing as how your only source of income is coming from us." Louise nodded, understanding what she meant. "However. That still leaves your punishment."

The room instantly grew a few degree's colder.

"Your act has done irreparable damage to the Valliere name and to say that I'm disappointed would be putting it lightly."

Fear gripped at Louise, this was it, she was going to be stripped of her Nobel name. Closing her eyes, she braced for the coming disownment

"However." Her eyes shot opened. "I do believe that a chance for atonement should be given in this situation. As such I've spoken with your headmaster and we've come up with what I believe is a proper punishment for such a crime."

Louise nodded in understanding, ready to accept any fate.

"Firstly, you will be allowed a wand but you must not use it unless it is an emergency, secondly as stated before, you will no longer be receiving allowances,"

Louise nodded it was rather light co-

"Thirdly you are barred from performing in the showcase, and finally, you will be working as a servant, from early morning to your first class, and from the end of your last class until the work you've been given has been finished. As you will be working with the servants, your room has also been moved to their quarters."

The relief that she had initially felt vanished in an instant. "Working, as a servant?"

An eyebrow rose on the older woman's face. "Is there a problem?"

"N-No." She stuttered.

"Good." Karin turned away from her, facing the door. "Bring it in."

At the call, the raven-haired maid entered the cell, carrying a black and white maid outfit on her arm.

Karin grabbed it from the maid and passed it to her daughter. "Try it on. As you're starting tomorrow, it would be best if we figured out what adjustments need to be made. If it fits I will be bringing you to the servants quarters where the head maid will explain your duties."

"Do I have to wear the headband?" Her mother only narrowed her eyes giving an answer as clear as day. Without saying another word, her mother turned and left the room, pipe in hand, leaving her alone, with her new uniform.

xXXXx

After a lot of fighting and help from that raven-haired girl, she learned, much to her dismay, that her uniform fit perfectly. It wasn't a problem in and of itself, the issue was that her mother forced her to keep it on as they made their way through the courtyard to the servant's quarters, in view of all the students currently practicing for the showcase.

If Louise were to bite her tongue any harder, she would draw blood.

At least she could take solace in the fact that no one was courageous enough to mock her while walking with the most powerful wind mage in Tristian.

Still, to be working as a servant,

She didn't feel embarrassed that was too light a word.

Publicly flogged would be better.

It wasn't long until they reached the unremarkable two-story stone house near the rear wall. Her new home.

With a measured stride Karin pushed open the door, revealing a very dull and empty entrance hall something that she sort of suspected.

Her mother showing no signs of interest in the building entered the first door on her right. "Ah, Lady Valliere, the headmaster said you would be stopping by."

Turning the corner, she saw who was talking to her mother. An old woman, whose hair had gone grey from her long life and whose hands were cracked and wrinkled from a life of working with her hands. Standing in front of a table covered in damaged uniforms, with various sewing tools sat next to them.

The woman gazed down at her with a warm smile on her face. "You must be Louise. My name is Claudie of Meux, but most people call me Mother Goose."

"Louise?" The Pinkette asked. With a raised eyebrow.

"They have been ordered by your headmaster to address you by your first name." Her mother explained.

Louise pursed her lips, so she was essentially disowned.

The woman looked her up and down. "If you don't mind me saying you look quite cute in that uniform if I do say so myself." The woman said, her smile never faltering.

"Thanks," Louise said a light blush on her cheek, her response automatic as if this was one of the balls her father forced her to attend.

"Now I must get going. Louise." She started calling her attention to her. "You are to listen to all of her orders as if they are my own and do any task no matter how difficult, do you understand?"

Louise furiously bobbed her head up and down.

With a small nod to the head maid, Karin quickly took her left the room, leaving the pair alone.

"Don't be too distressed." The maid started. "I won't have you do anything I haven't done." The woman said attempting to comfort the girl. "I'll show you to your room."

Claudie walked past her by and gestured for her to follow her.

Following the maid up a set of stairs in the entrance hall, which lead up to a hall that ran parallel to the one on the floor below, the head maid led her down the hall to the back of the building, stopping at the last door on the right. "Here it is."

The woman opened the door, stepping inside and once again, gesturing for her to come in.

The room itself was fairly well furnished, having practically all the same kind of furniture as her old room, if only of a lower quality. The two beds in either far corner of the room looked like they used hay as a cushion and lacked any sort of finer detail. Both bookcases were very sparse in terms of details something it shared with the dresser. The only thing that was really missing was a table she could eat at.

However, she couldn't help but feel shame as she stepped into the room.

"The right side is yours."

"Who does the other bed belong too?" Louise asked, walking over to the bookshelf.

"Oh. That belongs to Siesta of Tarbes. A sweet girl who's always happy to help and who will be your aid tomorrow. Although you've met her."

Louise looked to the older woman with a cocked eyebrow. "I have."

"Yes, she's quite unique in the fact that she has black hair." The maid explained.

"Ah." Turning back to the bookcase she couldn't help but notice that all of her books had already been moved.

The realization slowly dawned on her that this was real, that this wasn't some joke, that this wasn't just some nightmare she was having. "Now, although it's still morning, I suggest going to bed early as your day begins at around four. And if you have any questions feel free to ask."

"I do have one," Louise said doing her best to hold back tears. "Your name, why do they call you mother goose?"

The woman let out a soft chuckle. "It's mine by choice. A lot of the servants and artisans that come to work or take an apprenticeship are quite young, the youngest I sort of fill that motherly role that everyone needs every now and again.

Glancing over her shoulder, Louise found the woman staring at the floor with a warm smile.

"It also doesn't help that I spend most of the day, sewing up holes in their clothing or cooking food for all of us. But enough about me. I'll leave you to get settled in, supper is at three, so be sure to be down in the common room for it. If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask." With that done, the woman left the room.

Pursing her lips, Louise sauntered over to her new bed and sat down. Pulling off her boots, she brought both legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

The dam finally broke and tears began to stream down her face as she began to sob.

xXXXx

_**And that is chapter 8, it really does seem like Louise can't catch a break, can she.**_

_**Anyways Siesta is finally making her way into the story so there's that. Be sure to let me know what you think and have a great day.**_


	9. Chapter 9: A light in the darkness

Louise stared down at her reflection, floating in the tub of soapy water. Her eyes red, bags hanging off of them.

What was she supposed to do once class started, and she had to face those whom she would have to serve?

Not even an hour after getting up and her feet and arms were already burning from hauling the heavy fresh meat that had been delivered when she awoke this morning giving her a bitter taste of what was to come.

"Here you are Louise." Her roommate, siesta said, entering the laundry room and setting down a basket of various uniforms.

Louise paid her no attention, instead grabbing her washboard and laying it into the water like she had been told to do.

Grabbing a shirt from the laundry bin, she dropped it into the water.

"So what you'll want to d-"

"I know how to wash clothing," Louise told the girl.

"What about your gloves? Won't they get ruined?"

The pinkette's eyes narrowed 'Gloves?' Gazing down at her hands, she realized that she was still wearing those gloves that she had plucked out of her tank the day she summoned it. "Oh, right."

Grabbing them, she quickly pulled them off. How long has it been since she last took off during the day? She couldn't quite remember.

"Is that a tattoo?" The surprised voice of her roommate pulled her from her thoughts.

Louise bit her lip as she began to scrub the shirt against the washing board. "Can't you mind your own business?"

"Sorry." The girl meekly apologized. "It's just that, the other servants usually converse to pass the time."

Pulling the shirt off of the washing board, she dunked it back into the water before picking and wringing it out, shooting a glance over at the raven-haired girl as she did. "Yes, it is." She answered with a sigh.

Siesta looked confused for a moment, before realizing what she was talking about causing the girl's eyes to light up. "What does it mean?"

"What are you on about?"

The girl's smile instantly ran off of her face. "Well, it's just that my family has a long history with tattoos." She said, looking away from her. "All the boys in our family are encouraged to get them once they are able to afford them it's usually a way to show off what they've been able to achieve. Each one is unique and they all mean something personal to them."

Louise could only look away tossing the cleaned shirt into the rinse bin. "If you're so curious, it says Gandalfr. As to what it means, I don't know."

"Why?"

Grabbing another skirt this time she threw it into the water. "Because my grasp on ancient Romalian is tenuous at best." She told her, scrubbing the skirt hard.

Her roommate rung out the shirt. "Well, maybe today during the mid-day break you can go look up what it means. You wouldn't want to be walking around with something lewd or heinous written on your hand." She said, standing up and tossing the shirt over a clothesline.

Louise let out a single laugh. "Yeah, they keep all the books on ancient Romalia behind sealed doors, and right now, I'm in enough trouble to last a lifetime." The pinkette told her, ringing out the skirt and tossing it into Siesta's tub of water.

Still, that raised a good point, she hadn't even thought about trying to decipher the familiar runes on her hand, perhaps, she could ask Colbert what Gandalfr meant, he would probably know.

xXXXx

The pair continued their duties, until after half an hour, the laundry bin was empty.

"Louise?" Claudie asked from the entrance way. "Your mother is departing and wishes to speak with you before she leaves."

Saying nothing, Louise pushed herself off of her knees a small grunt, grabbing her gloves and dusted off her apron.

"She's in the newly built shed." Claudie clarified throwing a thumb over her shoulder.

Giving the head maid a small nod, Louise left the room, and with a brisk pace made her through the still dark courtyard to her tank shed.

Pushing open the small human sized door to the shed, she saw her mother running a hand along the side of the tank while gazing up at the turret with an inquisitive look.

"Tell me Louise, how thick is your familiar's armour?" Her mother asked, not breaking her gaze from the tank.

Louise was slightly taken aback. "How did you know that it was my familiar?"

"Because it is written on the side."

Eyes widening, she rushed over to the side of the tank and found just like her mother said, 'Property of Lady Valliere do not touch' Painted on in white paint. "I- uh,"

"I'm not mad, however I want you to repaint it during the mid-day break." Louise could swore that in that moment, she could see the faintest smile on her mother face. "Now about the armour."

"It's t-two and a half inches." Louise quickly added getting back on topic.

Her mother hummed

"B-but, with its slope, it's effectively around three and a half." She quickly added.

Another hum. "What of the cannon, it seems rather small to be effective."

What was she doing? "What it l-lacks in size it makes up for in range. Its shells can reach up to seven miles."

"That is quite the claim." Her mother looked over to her. "But your familiar isn't the reason why I called you here." She stated. "Your father has been called to the court. As such, I'm going to be returning home soon."

"r-right."

"Now, about your punishment." Her mother said, turning her entire body to face her, keeping both hands behind her back. "Your headmaster will be sending me the invoice for the reconstruction, however in order to gauge how much you've actually paid off, I've asked Claudie to write a report of the tasks that have been completed which I'll pick up at the end of every week."

Louise lowered her gaze to the floor. "Of course."

The clacking of boots warned Louise of her mother's approach. The contact of her mother's hand on her shoulder caused the small girl to flinch. "I know that this punishment may seem a bit harsh and unfair, but you must face it with zeal worthy of the Valliere name. If you do, you might find that this trial will pass quickly."

Her mother let go of her shoulder and walked past her, leaving her alone in the shed.

Louise bit the inside of her cheek.

A week. She had a week to make the money needed to repair the headmaster's office.

_At least a week. Do you actually think you can make what you need in a week? And in the meantime how will you deal with the ridicule? _

'No!' She inwardly shouted as she shook her head. She couldn't think like that. She had to face it like she had always done, with a stone face. Her family was better than all of them, all of her tormentors were just lower nobles striking up at her in a time of vulnerability.

All she needed to do to survive the week was stay away from the populated areas of the academy, most notably the dining hall.

"Louise?" A new voice called out from deeper in the shed.

Tilting her head up, she saw a cloaked figure standing near the back of the tank. "W-who are you?" Louise said, taking a step back.

"So, it is true." The figure said, slowly closing the gap forward. They grabbed their hood and threw it back, revealing a full head of short dark purple hair.

Before Louise could do anything, she was scooped up into a tight vice-like hug. "Princess?" She muttered, as her mind attempted to catch up.

"It's been so long Louise," Henrietta whispered, tightening her hug. The girl slowly pulled away, keeping her hands planted on her shoulders and began to look her up and down. "You've grown quite a bit."

Pushing herself away. Louise quickly kneeled to the ground. "Princess, y-y-you shouldn't see me like this. I've dishonoured my family's name."

"Louise." The princess muttered, her voice devoid of the previous joy. A hand wrapped around the pinkette's wrist and was swiftly yanked to her feet. "What did I tell you all those years ago?" The purple haired girl asked.

Louise's Couldn't face her. "Not to call you princess in private."

"Exactly."

Louise looked back to her. "But this is different," She told her, staring directly into her eyes. "I'm hardly a noble at this point, nothing but a common maid."

A mischievous smile formed on the princess's face. "Does that mean you have a contract up for purchase."

A chuckle escaped the girl's lips. "You haven't changed. And no, at least I don't think so. Even if it was, don't you think that might be a misuse of your kingdom's riches?"

"Royalty always needs friends in the court." Henrietta pointed out.

Her lips curled up into a smile. "A servant in the royal court would cause more of a fuss, then a friend would solve," Louise told her.

"Oh, don't talk like that, Louise." Henrietta scolded her. "Heads would roll before they insulted the royal playmate."

Her smile widening, Louise stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her friend putting all the sadness from the past few days into the hug. "It's... It's nice to know you hadn't forgotten me."

"Why would you think such things?" The princess asked clearly shocked by the idea.

Her grip tightened. "I was afraid that the rumours about my magical Difficulty had reached you."

"You mean your explosions?"

The pinkette pursed her lips. "Yes."

Her friend pulled away to look her in the eyes. "You do remember that I was there when you first used a wand."

Louise looked away in shame. "And ruined your dress." She added.

"The dress I hated, remember." Henrietta pointed out. "And didn't I tell you that your explosion was very impressive?"

The smile slowly returned to the noble's face. "Which caused me to keep throwing around explosions until my mother forcibly took the wand from me."

Henrietta chuckled, as she let go of the girl's hands. "That was one of the best summers I've ever had If I'm being honest with myself."

Louise gaze fell to the floor once more as the memories shared together flashed in her mind. "Sometimes I wish that we could just return to such times. When it didn't matter how we acted." She said with a sigh.

"I know how you feel, you don't know how bad I just want to go back to having days like those." The princess said. "Every day it feels as if the weight of the nation rests on my shoulders, with, mother in the condition she's in, I've had to step into the court in her Stead."

Henrietta, stepped away from her, turning her gaze to the main feature of the shed.

"What little time I spend away from the court is full of lessons by my advisors teaching me how to run the kingdom, even this trip which I had wanted to use to just get away from the politics for a few days has been corrupted. Since I've arrived, all I've done is meet the sons and daughters of prominent families and judge a familiar contest."

"W-What about the Cardinal? He always seemed to care about your health." Louise asked.

The girl scoffed. "The cardinal? He's no help, if anything he's worst then all of the advisers put together." The princess looked over her shoulder at her. "I had to fight with him just to let me go on this small trip."

Louise was at a loss for words, "I'm... Sorry to hear that."

The girl shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I came to see how you were doing, and here I am ranting about my own problems." And with a sigh turned back towards her. "So let me start again. How have you been, Louise?" She asked

Louise's eyes shot wide. "It's, uh." Her eyes darted around the room, looking for anything to focus on other than her friends face. "Going fine. Yeah, it's going fine."

The princess narrowed her eyes. "Well, if you say so. Although it seems that you've overcome your difficulty, at least somewhat." She said, looking to the tank.

"Oh, that, how did you know it was min-" Louise was cut off by the princess, pointing to the clear sign of her ownership.

"Not to mention that I overheard your conversation with your mother. It really is unique, though. I don't think I've ever seen an armoured carriage before."

Louise nervously chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't call it a carriage, it's quite rugged on the inside. Definitely not fit for a noble, let alone a princess like you."

"Now, you're just making me want to ride in it more."

"I... I wish I could do that for you, but I need to get back to work. I need to repay osm-"

"Osmond for the damage to his office," Henrietta said, cutting her off. "I know." A devious smile formed on her face. "But you do realize you're talking to a princess."

xXXXx

The tank speed along the open road. Dirt and rock was thrown from the back of the tracks. The princess's laughter from atop the turret was just barely audible over the roar of the engine. "Come on Louise faster!" The princess ordered. "I can still see the Cardinal's carriage!"

Louise sat in the driver's seat with her head out of the hull. The smile on her face was as wide as the planes of eastern Germania, "As you wish your highness." which only grew in size as she shifted into fourth gear.

If she had any doubts that she had changed over the past four years, this stunt was clear proof that she hadn't.

How they had gotten away with this was still fresh in her mind.

After her mother's carriage was long gone the pair quickly sprang into action, they both went to the cardinal, Henrietta in tears with her pretending to comfort her. The princess told him that she had a nightmare that Fouquet had taken her prisoner after her attempt robbery on the vault the day prior and that she needed extra protection on the way home.

This led Louise to proposition the use of her familiar. Its armour and cannon would deter any attempt at a kidnapping.

The cardinal was skeptical and ordered a quick inspection of the tank he allowed Louise to bring her back to the castle, quickly writing a letter to the headmaster to excuse her absence.

"Slow down!" The royal guard that was sent alongside them shouted, his hands clinging to the hull.

"No no no! Ignore that order Louise! Speed up!" Henrietta shouted.

Louise glanced over to the terrified young blonde knight and shrugged. Looking back to the road she shifted into fifth gear, the tank soon reaching its max speed.

If for but a moment, Louise felt like she was thirteen again.

"You are not to tell the cardinal any of this," Henrietta ordered the knight.

xXXXx

The people, like the last time she was in the capital, gawked at her familiar, or perhaps the princess who sat out of the top. It didn't matter. They quickly cleared the main street, giving her a path straight to the castle.

"This was fun Louise," Henrietta said, her voice no longer competing with the engine. "I wish we could do this more often."

The grin on her face turned sombre. "I do to princess."

"Perhaps, that's something that can be organized," Henrietta said.

Louise slowed and shifted down to second gear. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"The viscount wants to spend some time with you this summer. "Reconnect," He said."

Louise's eyes widened as she yanked both break handles to her chest, jerking the tank to a stop. "What?" She asked, looking to the turret where she presumed Henrietta was.

"The viscount, he wants to spend some time with you, so I was thinking that perhaps for a week or two during the summer you could stay at the castle."

Louise looked back to the road, "Oh." She muttered, shifting down into first and beginning to pick up speed once more.

He... wanted to meet with her? "I'll... I'll need to think about it."

"Just know that you always have a room in the castle if you need it."

Perhaps. Perhaps this would be for the best. It had been so long since she had last seen the viscount.

Pursuing her lips. She continued on to the castle's gate.

xXXXx

_**So I just want to say sorry for taking so long with this chapter. But with the semester finally, over i should be able to pump these out faster. Or at least for a week before I begin my job.**_

_**I hope you enjoyed this chapter though, let me know what you think and I hope you have a good day.**_


	10. Chapter 10: Appreciation

Stumbling through the door to her new bedroom, Louise crashed onto the bed and let out a shallow groan. Her legs burned and her arms felt like they were about to fall off.

With her being excused from the day's classes, her work had started almost immediately after she got back, with Claudie stating that. "Working now saves work in the future."

First, it was refuelling her familiar, which took close to an hour of pouring cup after cup of fuel into its tanks. It would have gone faster however, she had to take several breaks as the fumes of the fuel made her feel nauseous.

Then it was feeding the rest of the Familiars, a task that should have been done by at least six servants. But it was only done by her and Siesta.

The reason she was told, was that with the advent of spring, a substantial portion of the Servant staff had to be dedicated to the washing of bedding, as bed bugs were beginning to become a problem that needed to be squashed swiftly.

The job itself wasn't so hard as it was long, the back and forth from the kitchens to the stables quickly grew tiresome which wasn't helped by some of the more, Lively food, culminating in Louise's hatred for snakes growing ever larger.

Afterwards, it was beating bed sheets for close to two hours.

Two long hours.

If she never had to wield a wooden paddle again, it would be too soon.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the steps of her roommate that had guided her through the day of tough backbreaking labour. "Come on, Louise, it's only three in the afternoon. After we eat, we have to bring the bedding to the various rooms."

Louise shoved her face into the pillow, muffling the deep groan.

The steps grew closer. "Huh, what's this?" Siesta questioned. "Louise, you got a letter." Continuing to press her face into her pillow, she extended a hand towards Siesta's voice, soon feeling the envelope.

Grabbing it, she turned over onto her side to face it. The wax seal holding it closed was unmistakably the academies.

Running a finger in between the crack, she tore it open, grabbing the paper from within and beginning to read it.

Her eyes swiftly drifted over the formulaic introduction and to the central message of the letter.

_After several appraisals by countless master artisans, the total in damages to my office has tallied up to fifteen hundred ecu's_

Her throat went dry as she read the last part over and over again.

'Fifteen hundred!?'

_As there is no conservable way for you to pay such an amount in any considerable time frame, I will consider the debt paid when the summer break begins._

"Summer... Break..." she muttered to herself.

That was close to two months away.

_Two months of abuse_

Crumpling the paper in her hands, she brought them to her chest as despair began to creep up from her core.

"Louise." A new voice asked. Looking over to the door, Louise saw an older looking woman clinging to the door frame. "I need you to head down to the kitchen and bring soup, bread and a glass of water to the infirmary."

"Why her, if I may?" Siesta asked.

"The injured student is specifically asking for her."

Saying nothing, Louise stood up, and slowly marched out of the room.

xXXXx

The lecture droned in Kirche's ear. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't focus on what the earth professor was talking about. She supposed that it had something to do with golems if the small rock creatures running around her desk had anything to do with it.

The only thing on her mind was Louise whom she hadn't seen since she was hauled off by the academy's guards.

There were several rumours as to what happened to the girl. One was that she had been discreetly expelled from the school for such an act. Others weren't so forgiving. Several people claimed to have seen Louise walking through the courtyards dressed in a Servant uniform.

She refused to believe that they had gone that far.

"Miss Zerbst," The voice of the professor pulled her back to reality. "Well?"

Kirche blinked as her mind caught up with her. "I'm sorry, what was the question?"

"Why is it that we have armies if earth mages can conjure golems?"

"Will power exertion increases exponentially with each additional golem and it also places great strain the mage's concentration," Kirche explained.

The woman hummed. "Very good." She turned back to the board and began to jot down various notes. "On average the number of golems that can be summoned by a single mage varies betwe-"

Kirche soon tuned out once again, returning to trying to make sense of her thoughts.

If Louise had been turned into a servant, what could she do?

She had to do something. It was her fault.

What was she saying, she couldn't have known that Louise couldn't handle it.

But if she gets her mother involved. If the word were to get out that it was her fault. Dread began to creep up her spine 'I need to find Louise.'

Glancing out the window, she noticed a small figure walking around in the distance, squinting past the glare she noticed that all too familiar mane of pink hair.

The glare slowly faded as a cloud rolled by, allowing her to see Louise perfectly.

Nervousness turned to panic as she realized the uniform she wore. "Ah. _Scheisse_." She muttered under her breath.

"Is something the matter, miss Zerbst?" The professor asked.

"No, uh. I'm fine." She told the professor while turning to face her. "Wait." She scrunched up her face, feigning pain and grabbed her stomach. "I think... that the beef at lunch isn't sitting well." She said with a groan. "Could I be excused."

The look she received made it clear that the professor didn't believe her. "Obviously not. I won't let the folly of youth ruin your future Miss Zerbst. You may hate me know but you'll thank me when you grow up." The woman said with a wave of her hand.

Pursing her lips, Kirche looked down to her empty hand. 'Just like how you got out of all those boring meetings.'

Taking two fingers, she leaned down beneath her desk and shoved them down her throat.

Gagging swiftly turned to coughing which gave way to bile rushing out of her stomach and on to the floor in clear view of the professor.

Groaning she grabbed the desk and hoisted herself to her feet.

"Oh my." The professor muttered in disbelief. "Um," The professor started clearly in a state of panic. "You, Mister Henri. Could you take Miss Zerbst to the wa-"

"I can go by myself," Kirche said, cutting off the woman.

Pushing herself off of the desk, she stumbled down the aisle and out of the room where she quickly dropped the act, picking up her pace to a sprint, soon reaching the fountain just outside of the tower.

Falling to her knees, she stuck both her hands into the freezing water and cupped them, bringing them to her mouth and drank it, soon ridding her mouth of the disgusting taste. "I really should have remembered why I stopped doing that."

Standing back up she looked back to where she had seen Louise finding nothing but an empty courtyard.

"Where did she go?"

xXXXx

Louise walked through the doors of the water tower, in her hand a tray of food and in her mind questions as to who was the person who had called her here.

It was apparent that whoever it was, knew her, and knew that she had become a servant.

_Perhaps whoever it is, wants to make fun of you to brighten up their day?_

Her grip on the trey tensed.

Could... Could that be the reason? Was she just some cheap laugh for a sick person?

Clenching her jaw, she continued through the water tower, reaching the ornate door to the infirmary in no time.

Turning around, she pushed the door open with her back, spinning back around when she was through.

In front of her were beds set up in a half circle along the wall centred around the main desk with curtains hanging from the ceiling, hiding some of the beds.

"Ah, you must be the servant she wanted to see." The mage whispered from the desk, startling Louise.

Louise took a moment to Calm down and with her heartbeat under control slowly nodded.

The mage chuckled. "Third from the left. But, don't touch her arms, poor thing burnt them bad."

"T-Thanks." Louise stuttered not knowing how to respond. Walking around the main desk, she made her way over to the curtain and pulled it back.

The blood ran away from her face as she saw who had called her here.

Montmorency laid out on the bed, her arms and neck were bandaged and her hair was a mess devoid of the red bow she always wore, however for all of this she had the biggest grin on her face, which only grew bigger when she noticed her.

"Ah, Louise." Her voice was hoarse as if she had a bag of gravel shoved down her throat. "How are you doing?"

Louise was bewildered at how she seemed to not care about the situation she was in. "Uh... good?"

"That's good." She said laying her head back down on the pillow. "You can put the tray on the end table. There is something I need to speak to you about. Take a seat."

Grabbing a nearby chair she pulled to the bed and sat down. "What happened?" She asked still stunned by just how bad she looked

"I was toying around with that powder you gave me, and I may have knocked a lit candle onto it." She explained.

Louise looked away from her. "I'm sorry I didn't kno-"

The girl silenced her with a sigh. "Louise, that was my fault, I should have been more careful when I found nitrocellulose in the powder. Honestly, your way too quick to blame yourself." The girl stated. "Besides this isn't the first time I burned myse-" The girl's eyes widened as a coughing fit stopped her explanation.

Louise's actions were immediate, grabbing the cup of water, off of the tray, and bringing it to the injured girl's lips, who gladly accepted the liquid relief.

"Thanks." She said, her voice sounding considerably better than before. "Anyway, back to the reason why I called you here. I've made a breakthrough."

Louise sprang out of her seat in surprise, her eyes lighting up. "Really?"

"Yep." The blonde said with a smile. "The recipe is all up in here?" She said, raising a bandaged arm to her head. "But. The girl looked to her left and right before leaning close. "I need you to write it down."

Pursing her lips, Louise got up and walked over to the mages desk, quickly grabbing an ink well and a quill, before returning to the blonde's side.

The girl once again leaned in, attempting to be secretive. "I need you to write this. "Nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, Rosin, Diphenylamine." Louise did as she was told.

"And, that's it?"

The girl shook her head. "The more detailed notes are in my room, which, if you have the time, I would like you to retrieve and hide from the rest of the school?"

An eyebrow raised on the pink haired girls face. "What."

The blonde pursed her lips. "Just do it... But I do need to ask you for another favour."

"What is it?"

The girl looked away from her for a moment. "I don't want you giving away your shells to anyone else. I want to keep this recipe between us."

Louise crossed her arms. "You want your family to be the only one able to produce this powder?"

The girl slowly nodded. "Yes." She said, shame lacing her words. "To compensate, I'll give you as much powder as you want for free, I won't even charge you for this and... I'll owe you one."

"And how do I know that you won't betray me?" Louise questioned.

The girl sighed. "Look, Louise, I know that we haven't really gotten along in the past, but I really need this." Her voice, as hoarse as it was, still carried the girl's desperation in it. "If I do end up betraying you, you can go and give away that recipe and powder to whoever you want."

Louise pursed her lips as she began to think it over. "Fine, I won't hand off the powder to anyone else, and you can have your family start producing it."

The girls head fell back to the pillow, her gaze locked onto the ceiling. "Thanks, Louise."

The pair sat in silence for what felt like hours both of them choosing to wait until the other one broke the silence.

"So, are you going to be ok?" Louise said, finally speaking.

The girl nodded. "It's a few days of bandages around the burns, and it'll look like I never even burned them."

"That's... That's good."

The girl tilted her head towards her once more. "If I may, why are you wearing a servant uniform?" Montmorency asked.

The noble turned servant clenched her jaw and avoided her gaze. "I... Did something bad, and am now paying for it." She explained. "I had figured you knew."

"I didn't. I just asked for you."

Louise pursed her lips more. "Well, I should be going."

The blonde nodded. "Remember to get those notes, I rather not let them fall into a ravel family's hands."

"I will," The pinkette said standing up. "If you need anything just ask."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Louise turned and pushed her way past the curtain and left the infirmary, giving a warm smile to the water mage as she passed by.

"Louise." A voice that brought with it feelings of rage and anger called out to her.

Clenching her jaw, she turned around, soon coming face to face with the girl who had gotten her into this.

"I just wanted to say sorry, for-"

Louise shot out a hand and grabbed her by the ear, yanking down to her height causing her to yelp in pain. "Kirche." She gritted out, "I don't care what you have to say. I don't want to speak with you. I don't want to see you. I don't want you anywhere near me." The venom in her voice as clear as day.

Louise shoved her away before taking her leave. She had bigger problems to deal with.

xXXXx

Osmond sat, in his makeshift office, smoking his pipe. It was smaller than his old office and the furniture lacked a lot of the luxury that he had grown used to since he had begun his employment.

It wasn't all that bad, it sort of reminded him of his time out on the road when he was younger, where all he had to work with was what was in whatever room he stayed in.

He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts by the opening of the office's door. "I've finished the inventory of the vault." His secretary said, closing the door behind her.

"and?"

The woman bit her lip. "Everything is in order, except."

"Execpt?"

"The two crates that contained the staffs of destruction, they're missing."

He felt his old heart skipped a beat. This week was proving quite taxing on his old body.

"And I found Fouquet's calling card."

A trembling hand grabbed his pipe and set it down onto its stand. "Miss Longueville."

"Yes?"

"I need you to dispatch the guards at once. I want them in every town within a fifty-mile radius and give them commoner clothes. Order them to observe and to alert me if they notice any suspicious activity."

"Sir I must object," Longueville stated. "We don't have the manpower for thi-"

"Then send out some of the servants!" He shouted.

"Surely the royal family would be better equipped to handle an investigation."

Osmond let out a sigh. "If the court hears about this, they'll have my head. No, we need to handle this on our own."

"I'll have it done." She said with a small bow before turning and leaving the room.

Osmond grabbed his pipe and reinserted it into his mouth. Silently praying that the gods would give him what he needed.

xXXXx

**_So here we are at chapter 10. Just wanted to say thanks to all the readers and reviewers who have supported me through this process._**

_**And yes I know that a lot of the compounds listed come about during the nineteenth century, however it is in my opinion that chemistry would be one aspect of science where Halk would be advancing in, due to alchemy being such a large thing on the continent.**_

_**So yeah, let me know what you think.**_


	11. Chapter 11: New weapons

The lower levels of the academy library were normally devoid of light, sound and life as it was reserved for books of the most obscure nature where fact met fiction and where myth was the closest thing to truth.

Which was precisely the reason why Colbert was down here, digging through books that hadn't been opened in decades, possibly centuries.

For some unknown reason, Headmaster Osmond had suddenly taken a large interest in the young Valliere's magic and had asked him to perform a more extensive investigation then what had been previously done.

At the beginning of the week, he had started with the upper floors of the library which held all the contemporary knowledge on magic but found nothing of use.

Hour after hour and day by day he slowly descended the labyrinth of a library, slowly finding more and more passages that contained references to her explosive brand of magic.

The core issue with these passages was the fact that almost all of them were found in grand mythos, stories of heroes and villains.

It was only when he got to the legend of Brimir's Familiars that the puzzle pieces began to come together.

Gandalfr stuck out the most. The master of weapons, who with but a single touch knew how to handle and use a weapon like a soldier who had wielded it in a thousand battles.

As he read more and more on the subject the coincidences began to pile up.

Louise's familiar may have been, in her own words, that tank but he had yet to see any familiar runes on the iron beast, then there was the fact that Louise began wearing gloves the day she summoned it and the fact that seemingly upon contact she had mastered its control's.

It was an insane idea to be sure, but even as he trudged passed the tale to try and find a more plausible hypothesis, but as hours went by and the tower of books, he skimmed through grew larger and larger, the voice in the back of his head defending idea that Louise may be the Gandalfr grew louder.

'What am I thinking. Branding yourself during a summoning ritual.' He thought to himself closing the latest book he looked through. That would be the first ever instance of a summoning ritual resulting in the caster being branded.

It was probably a simple rune that taught her how to use it and nothing else which was probably situated on the inside of the tank

But... This was a Valliere he was talking about, firsts, when it came to magic, was their specialty.

No. What he needed to do was take a look at her hands, that would put his tired mind at east.

"The epic of Gandalfr?"

Colbert shot upright, startled by the sudden intruder, he turned to face the person, finding the all too familiar face of Loungville glancing down at his book from over his shoulder.

"Oh, Miss Longueville," He said, letting out a held breath. "You really shouldn't sneak up on people."

The woman chuckled. "I didn't think you liked reading fiction, Mister Colbert."

"Well." He started with a chuckle. "I sometimes use them as inspiration for my inventions."

"How so?" the green-haired woman asked taking a seat across from him.

"Well, there are several books that are occasionally found by people throughout the continent, usually in Albionese sometimes in Gallian and German and on even rarer occasions in languages that don't resemble any spoken in Halkeginia. Some of these books speak of great machines that come in the form of Steam powered horseless carriages."

"Really now?" Longueville asked leaning forward in her seat.

"Indeed, they usually don't focus on the machines themselves, and mostly consists of a dialogue between passengers."

"And why haven't more people attempted to create these machines?"

His joy ran away from his face. "Mostly because lords don't want to invest in something that they don't see short term benefit from."

The green haired woman scoffed. "Doesn't surprise me. Nobility is often short-sighted when it comes to anything outside of attempting to expand their influence."

Colbert stared at her wide-eyed, stunned by the words that had come out of the usually soft-spoken secretary.

She pursed her lips and looked away from the professor in shame. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"No, it's... fine, Although It makes me wonder why you would choose here of all places to work."

The woman sighed. "As much as I hate it, this is the best paying job that was available to me when I entered the country." Her eyes drifted up to meet his, piercing straight into his soul. "And I have people that depend on me." The voice she used carried an aura of power, making it feel less like an attempt at explaining one's actions and more like a threat.

Longueville leaned back in her chair and stretched out her arms, letting out a pleasant groan as she did. "But. If people like you are teaching the little snobs, I think that the future for Tristian is a bright one."

Colbert sat there in silence his face slowly heating up, not quite sure what to say, and it was something he was never good at. "So." He started not quite sure what to follow it up with. "You're from out of the country?"

Her face slowly twisted into confusion, her jaw hung open and her eyes widened.

And then she started to laugh.

Cobert's face grew red in embarrassment, "Wha-. What are you laughing about?"

"Oh." She started as the laughter began to die down. "It's just the servants were dead on their nickname for you,"

His face only grew hotter. "Which is?" He asked.

"Colbert the charmless."

His gaze shot back to her, his jaw dropping to the floor and his mind turning blank. The unbearable heat only growing hotter.

But before he could say anything she continued. "But I'm not here to tease you. Osmond has asked me to help you in your research."

The man closed his eyes and slowly closed his book as he took a deep breath. "Well, if you are willing to wait, I need to go see the young Valliere, to follow up on something."

She seemed to be at a loss for words if her silence was anything to go by.

Tucking the book under his arm he stood up. "Now, I apologize, but I must get going," And without saying another word, began the long ascent up to the ground floor in search of Louise.

xXXXx

The first class of the day, something that Louise had excelled at before the incident. Most of her classmates were either too tired to listen properly or simply didn't put in the same effort as her.

Thus, she rose to the top of the class, only ever competing with Tabitha in terms of marks.

But that was before her new job.

Now it was a marvel if she could get through the class without dozing off.

It wasn't as bad when she had started her new job but with more and more servants being transferred to gods know where she had to do the work of five other servants.

It wasn't just how tired she felt either, she had grown dissatisfied with her near perfect penmanship as after a long and gruelling shift, her arms would tremble uncontrollably.

Siesta had said it was because her muscles were shocked by the sudden use and that she faced similar issues when she had first arrived at the Academy, but founder she hated it. She couldn't even draw a straight line if she wanted too.

However, the worst thing if she was honest with herself was hunger.

With so many students attending the academy and so few servants meant that the morning work almost always cut into breakfast, leaving her with little time to eat.

So here she sat, at the back of the class, her stomach growling, her eyelids feeling heavy and interest in the textbook resting on the table beneath her weaning.

At the very least, her classmates left her alone, choosing to and gaze on in disgust, but that was where the positives ended.

She had to wonder where the professor had gone. for the past few days, Colbert's class had been replaced with study hall, something that was a welcome change considering she had so little time for her studies.

But reality was often quite different from expectations, and with the book being a blur and her mind an unintelligible fog she wasn't making up for any lost time.

As she gazed down at the book, a new idea popped into her mind.

Perhaps.

Perhaps she should have a nap.

On the one hand, it may have been seen as lazy and could be used to berate her further.

On the other, she wasn't going to get things done like this, she was simply too exhausted.

Yes, she would take a quick nap, no more than fifteen minutes then it would be back to studying.

Placing both her arms on the table, one on top of the other to form a makeshift pillow, she leaned down and rested her head on her arms.

Slowly but surely her eyelids shut, and she felt the world of dreams lure her into its embrace with its sirens call, luring her close until she drifted into the unconscious realm.

"Louise?" A faint voice asked while seemingly poking her.

'Can't they just leave me alone?'

Opening her eyes, she tilted her head up to find a seemingly healed Montmorency staring back at her, with bugs hanging off of her eyes and a concerned look on her face.

Yawning, she rubbed the sleep from one of her eyes. "Hello, Montmorency. Is there something I can help you with?"

The freckled face girl pursed her lips. "Study hall ended some time ago. It's mid-day break." The blonds voice now back to normal.

Her drowsiness instantly vanished, and she shot straight up.

How had she sleep for over an hour and not notice?

"Anyway, that wasn't the only thing I wanted to tell you." The blond said as a grin formed on her face. "I got us a musket and have come up with a few interesting ways to use your powder which I want to show to you."

Louise looked down at the girl's arms finding them still covered in bandages.

"Oh." She muttered, looking breaking her gaze away from the bandages. "Well, I don't have much to d-" Louise was suddenly cut off by the audible growling of her stomach. She bit the inside of her cheek "I must apologize, but I really should eat something first."

"I'm afraid we don't have the time, due to the explosive nature of what we're dealing with, I need to conduct the test outside the walls." She explained. "We can, however, pick something up from the kitchen before we leave."

"That would work."

"The field I picked out is around sixteen miles from here deep in a forest."

Louise contorted her face in confusion. "I'm, sorry but why is it so out of the way?"

"To maintain secrecy. We can't let people know what we're working on. As such, I was wondering if we could use your familiar for travel?"

Louise let out a sigh. "It's no problem." She muttered, receiving a smile in return.

As she placed her hands down on the table to pick herself up, she felt liquid on her palms. An eyebrow perking up, she looked down to find a puddle of what seemed to be wine on the table, which was confirmed when she turned her hand over to see purple liquid running down her palm.

The sudden sound of laughter pulled her gaze up from the table to a group of several nobles leaving the classroom. "Looks like she can't even stay sober in class." The blonde leading the pack quipped with a dismissive wave of the hand.

"No wonder she was turned into a servant. You can't get drunk if your too poor to afford wine." Another laughed.

Louise clenched her jaw and looked away in shame, saying nothing as the group left the room.

"Montmorency?" She asked, looking to where the water mage had been standing, but she was no longer there, in fact, it seemed that she had already left the classroom.

Not in the mood to question how the girl was able to move so fast, she swiftly left the classroom.

Only to run into Claudie waiting just outside the class and holding the young girls uniform in her hands. "There you are, Miss Valliere."

"Claudie? What are you doing here?"

"I'm truly sorry to say this, but with recent transfers, I will need you in the dining hall to help serve the students."

Louise's mouth went dry, fear choking her. "I, uh."

"I must apologize, but I've already given this servant a task." Louise looked over her shoulder, seeing Montmorency standing there with a warm smile on her face.

"I see." The woman extended the arm that her uniform hung off of. "You still need to change, and when you're done helping the young Montmorency, I'll need you to report to the kitchen."

Biting the inside of her cheek, she grabbed the uniform from the woman, who gave them a bow, before leaving them.

Louise shifted her gaze to the uniform, noticing a purple handprint on the white apron hanging off the front. "Do you think you could grab the food Louise and meet me at your familiar?"

Louise sat there in silence, staring at her uniform. "Ya... I can do that."

xXXXx

The squeaking of the tank tracks and roar of the engine destroyed any semblance of peace that once dominated the sunlight forest path.

"Just a little further!" Montmorency shouted over the engine from her seat in the bow gunner's position.

As the tank rolled through the sunlight path, Louise couldn't help but feel a small spark of joy. It felt free, too simply drive her familiar, without the constant jeering of her fellow students.

It was just herself, her tank, and the road.

"You know, this really isn't the best transportation if you want to keep what you're working on a secret," Louise shouted back.

"What do you mean?" The water mage replied.

"This thing leaves large tracks. Anyone even remotely curious can simply follow them." Louise explained.

"Well, it's good that we're relying on time as the main deterrent," Montmorency said with a smile.

"What do you mean?"

"The fork in the road is close to fifteen miles away, if anyone wanted to follow us they would need to do it by air, and need I remind you that the only person who summoned a winged beast was Tabitha and even if she did, the canopy makes it impossible for her to track us from the air."

Louise mulled it over in her head. What she was saying did make sens-

"Stop!"

Eyes widening and her body going rigid, Louise let her foot off of the gas and yanked both of the break handles back with all the force she could muster.

The tank lurched forward as it ground to a halt, accompanied by a sudden yelp from the turret originating from the guy Montmorency had dragged along.

Confusion filled her mind as she took in the seemingly normal environment.

"What was that for Louise?" Guiche questioned as he popped his head out of the turret, rubbing his forehead.

"Why here, Montmorency?" Louise asked, choosing to ignore the earth mage. "This doesn't look any different to any other part of the path?" she asked, looking over to Montmorency.

The girl only smiled and pointed up at a red ribbon tied to a branch above the path. "And like I said, it's deep in the woods. Just a half mile from her." She told the girl pointing to the left of the tank.

Louise looked back to the supposed path they needed to take, the forest wasn't particularly dense in this area so she was sure that she could find a way through.

Soon finding a suitable gap in the tree line, she clenched her jaw, throwing the tank into reverse and backed up, before shifting back into first gear.

Yanking the right break to her chest, the tank began to head into that direction until she was mere inches from the side of the road, before she let go and pulled the left one as close to her chest as was possible, sending the tank directly into the tree line.

The tank rocked back and forth as it maneuvered over the uneven terrain of the forest.

After a ten-minute drive, they arrived at the picturesque clearing situated at the base of one of the many mountains in Tristian with a river acting as a natural barrier between the clearing and the mountain itself.

Stopping someway into the field, Louise shut off the engine and lifted herself out of the driver's hatch.

"I will say, Louise, this "tank" rides better than any horse I've ridden before, although I think it's because whoever made it was ingenious enough to put cushioned seats in it." The water mage commented as she did the same.

Standing up on the hull Louise patted down her school uniform, before turning her attention to the cargo she had been carrying on the engine deck which was already in the process of being unloaded by Guiche's Valkyries which included a chest and two barrels.

Leaning down, she hopped off the turret, landing on the soft grass, mindlessly grabbing the musket that they had tied to the side of the tank for the trip as she walked over to where the Valkyries were setting the equipment down.

Only to stop dead in her tracks.

Not a second after grabbing the gun, information about the weapon flooded her head, how to handle it, how to load it. She instantly knew everything she needed to know in order to use this weapon like a veteran.

Her grip tightened on the weapon as she brought it up to meet her gaze. 'What was that?'

It was like when she first touched the tank after branding I- Herself with those familiar runes, but why did it teach her how to use a musket?

"Ah, you want to start with the musket?" Montmorency asked, breaking her from her thoughts. "I had a few experimental weapons that I wanted to show you, but if you want to start with the basics, we'll do that."

Louise looked between the gun and the girl. "Yes, lets."

Montmorency gestured her to follow her to the firing line, where the barrels and chest were set up by a stone wall that wasn't there when they arrived. When they reached it, the girl crouched down and opened up the chest, grabbing a tube-shaped piece of fabric that Louise only assumed contained a musket ball and powder.

Standing up, Montmorency turned towards Louise extending a hand to receive the musket, which Louise gave up.

The blonde then began to fiddle with the musket in her attempt to ready it.

When Louise had stepped in and offered her help, she simply declined it, stating that she would figure it out eventually.

It wasn't until another five minutes passed that the water mage gave up the musket to her.

Using her newfound knowledge, Louise quickly got the rifle ready, using the new powder and loading a standard musket ball before handing it back off to the girl.

"Guiche." Montmorency stated.

The boy let out a sigh. "Yes." as one of his Valkyries walked up to the girl, and grabbed the rifle from her.

It turned and walked several feet away before stopping and raising the rifle to its brass shoulder, aiming at another brass golem on the other side of the clearing.

"Are you sure you can hit that from here?" Louise asked. "I've heard stories about how inaccurate muskets tend to be."

"A musket wouldn't be able to make that shot but what it's holding is a rifle," Montmorency replied with a smile. "It costs more, but it's more accurate."

Louise pursed her lips. "Are you sure you're alright spending so much on this?"

The girl's smile was instantly replaced with a scowl. "Alright? Louise, what you've given me will revolutionize warfare as we know it. Once we figure out how properly use this powder, we'll be the queens of the new world. Everyone is going to want this and we'll be the only ones in all of Halkeginia that can supply it!" She shouted. "Any price at this point is worth it."

Concern sprung up from within her at the girl's declaration. "We, should probably test the rifle?" Louise asked changing the subject.

The scowl vanished, as the girl was brought back to reality. "Right, I'm sorry for getting off track. Actually, before I forget." Montmorency reopened the chest and pulled out three pairs of flight goggles and handed them to both her and the earth mage. "Just in case." She stated.

The trio all put on the glasses and got behind the stone wall.

"Guiche if you will." The water mage asked.

A thundering boom echoed throughout the clearing, but the target Valkyrie still stood in its original place unscathed. It wasn't until they looked to the one that had been shooting did, they realize what had happened.

The musket had blown itself apart.

The back of the musket looked normal not an inch down it split into three distinct pieces that merged back together further along the barrel.

Montmorency sighed. "I figured this might be a problem," She muttered under her breath, stroking her chin.

"So, what does this mean?" Louise asked, glancing over to the girl.

"It means we'll need a higher quality metal to act as the barrel. Guiche, don't you have a square earth mage in your family?"

The boy nodded. "Yes, uncle Gillis."

"Can you ask him to make me a musket barrel, smoothbore or rifled it doesn't matter."

The earth mage scratched the back of his neck, "He's quite busy as it is with the harvesting season starting soon, but I'll see if I can persuade him."

The blonde turned back to Louise. "Well, that's one issue sorted, although this does give me hope for the next use I thought of." Before the Valliere could reply, she was already grabbing something from the chest.

Standing back up, she turned back around, holding a ceramic vase in her hand with a fuse sticking out of the top. "What's that?"

"Oh, this is a powder-filled pot, it's still a work in progress, but I plan to line future pots with iron balls." With a swift movement, Montmorency grabbed a wand from out of its holster and brought it up to the match. "ignium." She muttered. The fuse instantly lit and began to burn down towards the pot.

The girl cocked her arm back and tossed it, landing in the soft grass by the Valkyrie. Both she and Guiche quickly hid behind the stone wall.

"Louise!" The water mage shouted, grabbing hold of her arm and dragging her down behind the wall just as the urn exploded.

The trio slowly emerged from cover, to find the Valkyrie seemingly unharmed with the only indication that it was at the center of an explosion being the slight warping of its legs.

"My beautiful Valkyries," Guiche muttered to himself.

"And nobles will want to buy these?" Louise asked.

"Of course, the Albionese civil war consisted of a lot of urban fighting in the port cities and the capital, these will help clear out buildings. Not to mention that just a few of these will disrupt any military formation out in a field."

Louise thought it over, it did make sense, but something felt wrong. "Montmorency. Don't you think you're going to fast?"

"No." She stated with a scowl. "If anything I've been dragging my feet, we need to finish this up as fast as possible before the civil war ends."

"Why?"

"Because right now the Albionese monarchy is desperate, they see their defeat coming and are willing to do anything to stop it. We start making these things now and present them to King James, and he will empty his coffers into our pockets for them which will go directly into resupplying your tank. And on such a note, I'll need another piece of ammo if you want me to look into supplying your tank. "

A pang of guilt struck Louise at the girl's words as she nodded. " But don't you think it's wrong though?"

The blonde sighed. "Of course, it's wrong, but with weapons like these, we could save lives, pull more nobles off of the front lines of the war. Why send a fire mage to do the job when a commoner could be just as effective."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." The pinkette relented.

"Now." The blonde started grabbing her attention, how about I show you what I've come up with for dragon riders."

xXXXx

_**So I just want to say sorry for the delay, I started working a few days after the last chapter and it drained me of my will to write. Hopefully, with the posting of this chapter, I'll be able to get back into my groove and begin a better update schedule.**_

_**Also i was wondering if there are any native German speakers in the audience who would be willing to lend a hand. I want to have Kirche speak German here and there to make her seem more real, but as i don't know the language myself I really don't want to rely on Google translate for the German.**_


	12. Chapter 12: A daunting task

The Sherman slowly reversed into its building before coming to a halt. The engine dying as a wave of relief washed over its driver.

They had spent several hours going over the various designs even Montmorency had come up with, the largest of which being a scaled-up version of the urn that could be dropped from dragons. However, it wasn't that that had tired her.

It was Montmorency's ambitions.

She laid them all out on the journey back stating that she wished to start selling to the lower nobles after selling to Albion, which would cause the higher ranked nobles to begin purchasing en masse to maintain the balance of power. Of course, she made an exception to the Valliere's.

It worried her, with everyone being so heavily armed, feuds would turn more deadly. It was a worry that she asked the girl who simply replied that it would create peace.

When she asked how, the blonde stated that, "They need commoners to generate wealth for them, and as such, they wouldn't risk their livelihood on feuds."

But it still felt wrong.

"I do hope you enjoyed what I've done Louise." The water mage pulled her back to reality.

"Yes, it was... interesting," Louise replied, looking to the girl who was pulling herself out of the hull.

The blonde looked down at her with a smile. "And you needn't worry, when we begin selling my designs, we'll split the profits forty-forty with the last twenty percent going being invested back into the company." To which Louise nodded. "Now about those shells."

"Oh." Ducking her head back inside the turret, Louise leaned over the turret basket before reaching back inside the left side sponson.

"Actually, what kind of shells does your tank use!?" She heard Montmorency ask.

"Solid shot, smoke and explosive!" She shouted back as she fished out a shell from the sponson.

"Explosive!" The girl's voice emanated excitement. ***Cough*** "I mean, was the smoke what you used to clear out those goblins?" The water mage questioned.

"Yes." She replied, getting back into her seat and hoisting the large shell out of the hatch.

"Can you get me one of each then?" The water mage asked now on the ground.

"Are you sure? The chemicals in the smoke are highly volatile and any spark will set off the explosive."

"I understand your concern, which is why I'll be having Guiche's Valkyries take care of splitting the shell open to get at its contents while we're safe in another room."

Louise looked up at the turret to see a dishearten Guiche climbing down. Feelings of sympathy exchange through simple eye contact.

"Let me grab the other two shells for you." Ducking back inside the tank, she quickly grabbed the two shells requested before popping back out of the top.

A pair of Valkyries quickly grabbed the shells. "I'll work on these as soon as I get back to my room and when I've made sufficient progress, we'll return to the field to test them, does this work for you?"

Louise slowly nodded.

"Then, I wish you a good day." The water mage said with a smile before turning and leading Guiche, away with the shells.

Louise watched as they left for a moment, before pulling herself out of the tank, and carefully descended its upper front plate.

"Ah, there you are Louise."

Tripping in shock, her eyes widened as she fell towards the floor and in a panic, instinctively grabbed on to the main gun catching her from the fall.

Panic slowly subsided as a feeling of weightlessness washed over her soon being lifted up, and gently lowered to the ground on her feet.

Looking towards the sound of the voice, now that her panic was slowly subsiding and her breathing returned to normal, she found Colbert staring back at her his staff raised.

"Ah, Professor." She said, her tone flat. "What can I do for you today?"

The man lowered his staff and walked forward until he stood directly in front of the girl. "Louise. I need to see your hands."

Blood drained away from her face at the declaration. "What... an odd request." She told him with a chuckle.

The man was undeterred, continuing to stare down at her.

"Well I really must be going, Miss Claudie asked me to get right back to my duties as soon as I returned." She briskly began to walk past him when a hand grabbed and forced her to remain in place.

The man forced her to stare at him, his eyes holding a fire that she had yet to see in this man. "Louise I am only going to say this once, but please remove your gloves." His voice sent a chill up her spine at the seriousness of it.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she raised her hands to her chest and slowly pulled her gloves off revealing the rune.

Instantly the fire was snuffed out as the man paled. His confidence all but shattered he let go of the girl's arm. "You. Uh, have the rest of the day off, and I'll let Claudie know." Without saying another word, the man stormed away, leaving her alone in the stable.

Panic grew within her. Where was he going? Would he tell the headmaster? He would surely tell her mother, and she'd surely punish her further for this failure.

Her breathing picked up in pace as thoughts of being locked up inside her family's castle danced in her head.

"Freak" they would call her as they locked her away so that no one would know of the magically inept Valliere who almost ruined the name of one of the most powerful mage lines in Halkeginia.

In a moment of clarity, she paused and took a deep breath. 'No, I can't assume the worse.' She thought to herself, he always supported her and would do what he thought best.

Stepping towards the door, she noticed a flash of green that disappeared behind the door as quickly as it appeared.

Before she could dwell on it, she left the building. Being given the day off was what she needed to catch up on her classes. 

xXXXx

The tapping of wood, a sound that had grown all too familiar since the staffs of destruction were stolen.

It was something that had become a habit for the old headmaster. If he weren't working, he would fidget, and if he had something to do, he would quickly get through it. It was a vicious cycle that had plagued him.

Hopefully, someone would find something to point them in the right direction as the servants were stretched thin, and the last thing he needed was the students writing to home about how the service had fallen in quality.

All he needed to do now was wai- ***Slam*** "Osmond!" Colbert shouted, rushing into the room, carrying several books and rolls of paper but what disturbed the headmaster was just how rugged he looked, his face was pale and clammy looking as if he had just gotten back from a sixty-mile march and he had wild eyes.

The headmaster felt his heart jump in his chest at the sudden intrusion of one of his academics.

The fire mage shut the door behind him and walked over to the desk, setting down everything he was carrying. "It's Louise, I think I figured out why her magic acts the way it does." He unrolled one of the pieces of paper, revealing a set of familiar runes.

"I take it that these were the runes found on the tank?" Osmond asked.

The man simply shook his head. "No, these runes were found on her left hand."

Osmond pulled the pipe from his mouth and set it on its stand as he leaned forward. "She branded herself?"

"Yes, but that's not the issue." The man pulled one of the books from his stack and opened it up to a book-marked page and pointed to a passage right under an image that exactly matched her runes.

Pulling a set of reading glasses from a drawer he put them on and began to read out loud. "The left hand of god Gandalfr..." His mouth went dry as his eyes drifted over the next sentence. "Legendary familiar of Brimir... and master of... combat..."

He could feel his heart begin to pound in his chest as the puzzle pieces came together. Raising a trembling hand to his glasses, he pulled them off and slowly set it aside.

"And... this information is correct?"

"I've triple checked it. I believe at this point in time, that Louise... Is a void mage."

"That..." His vision blurred... "That..." A burning pain grew in his chest. "Tha-" His body went numb and his vision went dark.

No longer resisting his head fell onto his desk. "Osmond!" Was the last thing he heard before he passed out. 

xXXXx

As day turned to night, Louise continued to study, taking notes on topics varying from Alchemy to the combative use of water magic, an odd topic to be sure, but in the blur that was her memory of the past few days of class, she recalled a lecture on the subject.

And by the end of the study session, she found herself with a total of thirteen pages of notes as well as exhaustion that she hadn't felt since that one time she had attempted to copy her mother's morning routine.

It was only after the sun went down did, she entertained the idea of a break. The issue now would be getting food. All the remaining servants were busy with their duties, so the kitchen downstairs would be bare.

Which meant that the only place to get food was to head to the main kitchen in the center spire.

A knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts. "Who is it?" Louise asked, picking up the book and putting it back on the shelf.

No answer came.

An eyebrow perked up on her head. A list of who could possibly be on the other side of the door began to run through her head.

It wasn't a servant; they always announced their presence, and she didn't really expect any students to go out of their way to visit her.

The knocking continued dragging her attention back to reality.

Cautious as can be she crept open to the door, grabbing the handle and slowly opening it when whoever was on the other side barged into the room, knocking her back as they did.

Fear gripped her core as she noticed the feminine figure standing in the middle of the room, her features hidden by a hood and robe that obscured any detail.

Reaching back to her roommate's dresser, she opened a drawer, grabbing the first thing she felt and bringing it around to her front, pointing it at the intruder. "W-W-Who are you?" She sputtered.

Through the shadow of the hood, she saw the faintest smile on the intruder's face. "To think that you've already forgotten me after less than a week since my last visit?" The princess said, lowering her hood to reveal her identity

For a moment, Louise stared at the princess unblinking, instantly dropping to a knee when her mind caught up with her. "Forgive me for not answering the door sooner."

"I thought we went over this," Henrietta muttered under her breath. Grabbing the pinkette by the wrist she hoisted herself to her feet. "It's nice to see you again Louise."

A warm smile formed on Louise's face. "It's nice to see you, Henrietta. But if I may, why are you here?"

The smile faded from the princess's face, as she turned away. "It's about Albion." She stated, pulling a small ornate box from underneath her hood and placing it on the table.

"Do you have news!?" Louise asked, stepping forward. "I've heard rumours that Londonium had fallen to the rebels."

The princess refused to look at her. "It's... over. The royalty is on the brink of surrender... The rebels have won."

Louise froze, her head full of questions, all of which pertained to how. "What... Happened?" She muttered.

"After the fall of Londonium, King James launched a last-ditch assault to retake the city with a thrown together army of conscripts and what was left of the royal guards commanded by Prince Wales himself."

Louise watched as the princess leaned forward using the table to support herself as she talked.

"The army wasn't able to muster enough dragon knights to give proper reconnaissance, and as such, they were encircled and destroyed, with Prince Wales just barely being able to escape after a successful by costly breakthrough."

The woman's grip on the table hardened.

"By the time he had made it back to Newcastle, it was already being besieged by the rebels forcing him to use a secret passage to make it safely behind the walls which."

Louise gritted her teeth. "Then we must intervein, raise an army and relieve the royal family."

A single chuckle escaped the girl's lips. "Louise, I appreciate the sentiment, but we are not ready for war, a few estimates of Reconquista's numbers put them in the hundreds of thousands. And even if we were, the naval blockade that Reconquista had set up, would make transporting large amounts of troops impossible without heavy losses."

"T-t-then why are you telling me this?"

The princess turned towards her, her lips pursed as if she was about to ask the world from her. "I... came to ask you for a favour."

"A-Anything."

Henrietta once again looked away from her. "You've heard that I'm now engaged with the Germanian emperor?"

Louise gritted her teeth. "Of course, he wishes to legitimize his rule in the eyes of the Brimiric countries and solidify his families rule over Germania. Although I don't see why you need to marry the king of the barbarians."

The princess laughed. "I understand where you're coming from Louise, I really do, but we need this union. Gallia has been expanding its army Albion is about to fall to rebels who will no doubt turn their attention to us. We need to be able to defend ourselves."

Anger began to rise within her. "We don't need the damn Germanians! Our ancestors ruled over them for over four thousand years, we would be better off without them!"

"Louise!" The princess silenced her. "Try to understand this from my point of view. To the south, we have a country that has over twelve times our population with a king whose goals and ambitions are unknown at this point in time, and to the west, we have a rebelling nation with a navy comprising of over two hundred ships. Do you know how many we have Louise?"

Louise's jaw hung loose as she searched her mind for the answer. But no matter how hard she thought she couldn't come up with an answer

"Fifteen. Fifteen warships, none of which are carriers or ships of the line of which Albion has sixty and seventy respectively. This doesn't even take into account their air core which comprises of over two thousand dragon knights and another few thousand knights riding various other mounts. If I don't marry the emperor, then we will likely be conquered within the decade."

The princess pulled out a chair from the table and slumped down into it, seemingly exhausted from the explanation.

"The goal of a monarch is to ensure the protection of her people." Her voice was quiet now, lacking the fire from earlier. "And this... is how I intend to protect them."

Walking over, Louise sat down and grabbed her friends' hand, and gave it a light squeeze causing Henrietta to look up at her. "I'm sorry for my outburst, it was uncalled for."

"It's fine." The princess muttered.

Louise audibly gulped. "H-have you done anything to prepare us for war?"

The princess gaze fell back to the table. "I've tried, I've partitioned the court to raise taxes to begin funding a standing army, but they always blocked it. They're planning to wait until the union in the hope that Germania would be willing to supply us an army. And with what little funds I could muster, I commissioning a ship of the line. However, it won't be ready for another year and I don't think we have the time to wait that long."

The princess clenched her hand into a fist.

"I know I shouldn't insult my mother, the grief she's going through is unimaginable, but he was my father too!" Henrietta shouted tears forming in the corners of her eye's. "Why don't I get time to mourn, why her. Why is it that I need to carry the weight of the kingdom while my mother sits on her throne and mops all day!"

Louise looked at princess wide-eyed, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry." She said, wiping the tears from her eyes, "I really don't want to make it seem like you're just someone I can complain too."

"You don't" Louise blurted out, squeezing her hand harder.

A smile formed on the royalties face. "Thanks, Louise. Now back to why I'm here." The girl let go of Louise and grabbed the box that she had brought.

"Anything you ask I'll do it."

The princess pursed her lips. "You shouldn't be so willing to follow orders Louise."

"But the r-"

"Yes, the rule of steel. Your mother's way of maintaining discipline among her troops as well as her children." The princess stated. "But what I want to ask of you is different than a simple request. I need you to go to Albion."

Blood drained from her face. "Why?" She muttered.

"A few years ago I sent a letter to my cousin Prince Wales." The princess audible gulped. "Within it contained several sentences that could be seen as, 'flirting'. If emperor Albert found out about it, he would surely call off the wedding."

"A love letter." Louise surmised.

The princess looked away in shame. "Yes. At this point, I don't know whether this letter had fallen into the Rebels hands or not, but knowing Wales, he most likely took it as his family fled from Londonium. What I'm asking you is to make it to Newcastle and retrieve the letter and bring it back to me, if that's not possible I want you to burn it. I know it's asking a lot but you're the only one I can trust with this missio-"

"I'll do it." Louise blurted out, cutting off her friend. "I may have difficulty with magic, but if you think I can do this then I'll do it."

"Louise." The princess muttered. Grabbing the box, Henrietta placed it in front of Louise. "I don't intend on you just marching into Albion by yourself. As such I've gotten a knight who I think you'll be fine to work with."

"Who?"

The princess smiled. "His name rhymes with Bordes."

Louise's eyes slowly widened as she realized who she was talking about. "P-P-Princess, you don't mean." Her face turned red with embarrassment. "It's been so long. It's been over two years since i've written to him."

"That's precisely the point, Louise, you should get to know the person you're going to marry, and I think this would be a good opportunity to bond with him."

Grabbing a piece of her pink hair, she began to toy with it. "Yes but what if he doesn't like my magic? What if he's already heard about my magic and already decided that he hates me for it?"

The princess sighed. "If that were the case, he would have already called off the marriage. But enough about that, Louise. I've brought you something that may help protect you on this mission."

The girl pushed the box forward and gestured Louise to open it.

Doing so revealed what looked to be a pistol and belt holster with several pouches. The massive difference between this gun and what she knew as a pistol was the large cylinder sitting above the trigger, the second barrel, sitting just off of the barrel and the fact that it was completely metal save for the handle.

"What is this?" Louise asked, continuing to stare at the gun.

"I'm not too sure. As soon as I figured that I would ask you to go to Albion, I began looking for ways to help you, and as such, I sneaked into the royal vault, where after a bit of searching I found something remarkably similar to your familiar."

"Really?" She said, cutting off the girl.

The girl nodded. "Although it was entirely different compared to yours, it had two cannons a small in the top metal dome, and a larger one located in the core of the armoured carriage. However, the biggest difference was the fact that it lacked the, What do you call the things that your familiar runs on?"

"Tracks."

"Yes, tracks. It lacked those, although with the way the metal was burnt in some places makes me think that it was damaged. Anyway, we're getting off topic, so I looked inside and found that pistol and holster hanging inside, figuring that since you know how to use your familiar, I figured you might be able to use it."

Louise let out a chuckle, grabbing the pistol. And like all the other times before, a wave of information flooded into her head with the name of the weapon stuck at the front of her mind. French model Eighteen-seventy-two revolver.

Lifting a thumb to the loading gate, she brought it down, slowly turning the cylinder as she did. Six unspent bullets, one for each chamber of the revolver.

Pushing the ejector rod back forced a bullet out of its chamber and into an open waiting hand. Slowly rolling it around with her thumb, she noted just similar it was to the ammo for her tank, the only real difference was the lack of a colour ring indicating what round it was and the scale.

"Eleven millimeter." She muttered to herself.

Louise pursed her lips, 'do my runes work on any weapon?' She wondered. Drifting her gaze to the princess who was silently watching her examination with a smile, she wondered if she was right. She did find it in a tank after all.

The princess let out a small chuckle. "I guess I was right after all."

"It seems you were," Louise said, returning a hollow smile.

Placing the pistol to the side of the box, she pulled out the belt holster. Ignoring the holster part of the belt, Louise went straight for the pouches, finding several loose bullets, as well as a weird box that wasn't made of wood. The word Gaulois and the number twenty was printed atop of a odd looking helmet adorned with wings.

Opening the box revealed several white tubes filed with a brown papery substance. Seeing no real use in examining it any further, she put everything back in order. "Where will I be meeting Wardes?"

"Just before dawn at the front gate."

Louise pursed her lips at how sudden everything was. But she needed to do this. It was simple, Break the blockade get to Newcastle, break through an encirclement, get the letter break out of the encirclement break through the blockade again and bring the letter back.

"I'll promise that I'll get your letter back," Louise said, mustering as much confidence as she could muster in the face of such a task.

"That puts my mind at east, Louise. After your return, I'll do everything in my power to get you out of your current predicament." The girls sat in silence for a moment. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I really must be leaving,"

"I... understand."

The princess and Louise both stood up and made their way to the door before, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her into a tight hug.

Louise said nothing, squeezing a little harder before letting go entirely and bowing to her friend. "I wish for you to have a safe return Louise," Henrietta told her, leaving the room soon after.

Now alone, Louise felt dread creep back up her core at just how daunting of a task she had been given, it didn't matter if she had Wardes with her as well as that pistol it was a mission that was going to prove quite difficult to pull off.

Walking back over to the table, Louise put the pistol and holster back inside the box and closed it before picking it up, walking over to her bed and sliding it underneath of it.

Swallowing the fear, she stood up and collapsed on top of her bed. Supper no longer mattering to her, she had a long day few days ahead of her and she needed to be rested. 

xXXXx

**_Again i would like to say sorry for the delay in the chapter, but please, blame hoi 4 and war thunder for being addictive._**

**_Now a bit of trivia, the tank that Henrietta refers to is the Char B1 bis. A french heavy tank that was a large obstacle for early German panzers, as their tiny twenty mm cannons couldn't pen the beast's armour.  
_**

**_It contained a 47mm cannon in the turret to deal with tanks and a 75mm mounted in the hull to provide support to the infantry, one interesting note about this tank is that it inspired the M3 Lee, the American tank that was lend-leased en masse to the British who eventually modified it and renamed it to the Grant._**

**_That's about it, i hope you all enjoyed that chapter and i hope to see you next time. Have a great day._**


	13. Chapter 13: Looming dread

The bitter early morning cold was something that Louise had grown used too, but today was different. Whereas before she could easily work through the cold, she no longer had anything to keep her body moving, no task to finish.

Which meant she was stuck standing in the dark, in front of the academy's gate, with nothing to do but watch what few servants that remained work tirelessly to maintain the quality that was expected of the institution.

And as she stood shivering in her riding uniform trying to keep warm by keeping her arms close to her chest, she couldn't help but feel stupid.

Like a child wandering into the home of a murderer, here she was trying to infiltrate a country in the middle of a civil war, in something that you would wear when out socializing with other nobles while hunting.

Turning away from the servants, she once again looked to the skies towards the capital, for any sign of his griffin but there was nothing.

With nothing else to do, she Tightened the holster once more, she wondered where he was.

A sudden gust of wind accompanied by the powerful beating of wings, pushed her forward a few steps before she was finally able to resist it.

As the wind died, she looked over her shoulder and felt her mouth run dry.

Atop the newly arrived griffin sat her Fiancee, the captain of the griffin knights, the man that was always there for her all those years ago. The man she would spend the rest of her life with.

And he was just like she remembered him, long grey hair running down his back. A beard and mustache connecting at either side of the mouth. The look of determination that could as easily kill as it could comfort and a smile warmer than any sunny afternoon. "Hello, my dear Louise." He said in that same, sweet and caring voice that she remembered from all those years ago.

However, instead of joy or happiness at seeing one of the few people who believed in her, she felt confused.

This feeling only grew as the man climbed down from his mount, giving her a better look at his uniform. Instead of the blue greatcoat and hat that was normal for the griffin knights, he wore a green military coat over the usual white garb and a tall black Albionese hat.

Before she could even utter a word, he was already upon her and pulled into a warm hug. "It's been quite a long time my rose.

The blood that had just run away from her face returned in force, colouring it as red as the evening sky. "W-W-W-Wardes!" She stuttered. "W-w-w-what are you doing?"

"Am I not allowed to embrace the one I'm supposed to marry?"

Her face grew hotter. "B-b-b-but the servants, they can see us."

His hug tightened before he let her go "It's good to see you, Louise."

"A-a-a-as am I to see you."

The man's smile grew a little wider, accompanied by a raised eyebrow.

Growing even redder, her stuttering got worse. "I-I-I-I m-m-m-mean I'm h-h-happy to se-." Realizing this was a losing battle, she paused, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm glad that you're here."

The man chuckled. "You're still that sweet innocent little girl I see."

Her face instantly contorted into a pout. "I'm not a little girl."

"Of course," Wardes replied with a hint of sarcasm. "I mean if you were, you wouldn't be on this mission."

"E-exactly," Louise said, turning away from her husband to be and crossing her arms.

"Now, shall we get going? Although we won't leave for Albion until tomorrow, we should still attempt to reach La Rochelle as soon as possible."

Her confusion returned. "La Rochelle? Wouldn't it be better to go to Ostend?

"Louise. Did Henrietta explain the severity of what would happen if Tristian envoys were to be found aiding the royalists?"

"No." She answered. "But I can guess that the rebels would attempt to invade Tristian."

The man nodded before leaning in close. "Which is why we must make sure that we don't leave any clues to our nationality." He whispered

"Is that why you're wearing that weird uniform." She whispered backed

A smile formed on his face. "Exactly, unless they know exactly who either of us are, they'll believe that were simply part of the Hessians."

"Hessians?"

"A group of Germanian mercenaries, created by a few of the princes to help bring money into their lands, it just so happens that the Tudor's hired early in the war." He explained before raising an open hand. "Now. shall we leave?"

Nervousness crept up her spine, making her pause for a moment as her mind processed what he just said. Taking another deep breath, she overcame it and reached out and grabbed his hand.

Suddenly she was yanked off balance and felt an arm wrap around her back while another snuck down to her knees before she knew it, she was being carried towards the griffin.

Face heating up, she began to sputter once again. "W-W-Wardes, what are yo-"

"Easing your burden." He said with the same warm smile as before. "Once we begin our march towards Newcastle you will be yearning to be carried."

Dread began to surface at the reminder of her task. She still had yet to figure out how they were going to pull this off. 'Wardes would have a plan' She told herself. 'Henrietta wouldn't send them if they didn't think they could do it.'

The Griffin kneeled to its master as the pair stepped in front of it, allowing her fiancee to place her up on the saddle easily.

"By the way, how's your German?" He asked, climbing aboard behind her.

"Hardly worth mentioning," she confessed.

His arms wrapped around her to grab the reigns, causing her face to heat up once again. "Then I think you should leave the talking to me." With a snap of the reigns, the Griffin extended and began to flap its wings, sending towering clouds of dirt up into the air as the beast slowly gained altitude.

Not a minute later they were now flying towards Gallia and with each passing second the dread and uncertainty grew within her.

xXXXx

With a few less than graceful steps, Louise fell onto the bed in their room in La Rochelle, exhausted, her legs no longer able to support her weight.

"Tired?" Wardes asked with a light chuckle, entering the room behind her and an unremarkable large pigskin sack on his back.

Louise grabbed, pulled the pillow and lazily dragged it to her face, "Yes." She murmured into the pillow obviously annoyed by the quip.

However, she had no one to blame but herself. It was her that dragged Wardes around the city until last light, gawking at the various buildings that had been built before the collapse of the empire. It was

It was her that ignored her Fiancee's advice about heading straight to an inn and resting after the four-hour flight, but the allure of viewing architecture built by the empire she loved to read about overpowered any sense of reason.

Why did they need to head to Albion from the only place outside of Romalia that had maintained it's imperial infrastructure

"Well I do hope you have enough energy to change," Wardes added as he opened the sack and pulled out a roll of clothes similar to his and tossed it onto the exhausted girls back.

Louise rolled her head to look at her husband to be as he set down a pair of rugged-looking boots at the foot of her bed, and gave him s sluggish nod.

"Then just let me know when you're done." He said with a warm smile, leaving the room as fast as he had entered.

Slowly, the pink-haired girl began to move, until she was sitting on the bed cross-legged, the green roll of clothing sitting on her lap.

Undoing the knot that held the roll together, she unfolded the clothes, taking note of each piece as she peeled apart the layers.

A green coat with red trim, a pair of white pants and a shirt, most embarrassing, however, was male undergarments.

It was exactly the same as what Wardes had been wearing only smaller and made for her.

Pushing down her feelings of embarrassment, she quickly stripped down and began to get changed.

Louise soon found herself inspecting the new clothing in the rooms stand up mirror. Pride began to brew up from within her as she stared at herself, dressed for war.

She was following in her family's footsteps. To take up arms to defend her kingdom.

However, there was something off, something that just didn't seem right about the image of herself that she was staring at.

'My hair.' She internally realized.

Turning back to the discarded piece of string, she grabbed it. It wasn't pleasant looking, but it would work.

Rolling the string around her finger, she brought both hands behind her head and collected her hair together, quickly tying it off in a ponytail.

Pride grew at the sight in front of her. It was as if she was staring into a portrait of her own mother when she was younger. But still, something was missing.

A frown, Narrow eyes and a furrowing of her brows was all that was needed to complete the image. Grabbing a knife from the dining table, she pointed it away at the wall and in a rigid voice that commanded respect declared. "Any and all Germanians that enter Tristian shall suffer the fate that befell the ship, Charlemagne."

A small chuckle escaped her mouth as she continued. "My heavy wind has no counters. It would be foolish to keep pressing your attack." With a swing of her arm, she spun in place. "So you've encircled my castle? Well now I no longer have to aim my spel-" ***knock knock knock***

Her smile and laughter instantly vanished and was replaced with an urgent sense of panic and embarrassment. "O-o-one second W-W-Wardes." She sputtered as she raced to put the knife away and get her on her boots and holster.

Rushing over and opening the door, she was met with a sight that caused a fire to ignite behind her eyes. "Kirche!" She shouted, "What are you doing here!?"

The dark-skinned girl gazed down at her in unbridled fury. "Albion? Are you insane!"

"What? H-how did you find out that I was heading to Albion?" she asked panic returning.

"Oh please, Louise," Kirche stated, leaning in closer. "I saw you leaving the academy with a Hessain and followed you to a Gallian port, where else would you be going?" Kirche explained, emphasizing the point with a simple flick of her wrist.

"What I do is none of your business you German harlot!" The pink-haired girl rebutted.

"Yeah, sorry about being concerned about your life. Do you even know what its like up on that island?" Kirche asked.

"I can handle myself."

"Against dragons strafing your troops? Against airships bombarding you? Mages ambushing your army, killing several rows of men in less than a few seconds? Because that's what war with Albion is like."

"And what do you know!?"

"What do I know?" Kirche expression darkened. "I grew up surrounded by those who commanded the troops that fought Albion in the war."

"Then you shouldn't have started the war in the first place!" Louise retorted.

Kirche furrowed her brow in frustration. "We didn't start the war, Tristian did."

"What!? It was you Germanian protestant brutes that marched your soldiers on Limbourg."

"Don't you mean Limburg? And you know damn well, that mine was well within our territory." With a shake of her head, she got back on topic. "But that's beside the point. I'm not letting you go to Albion."

"Why do you care!?"

Kirche shoved a finger into the smaller girl's chest, Forcing Louise back into her room. "Because I'm concerned. Your brashness is going to get you killed Louise. This isn't like the books. There is no honour in war." Turning away, she looked at the girl standing beside her. "Tabitha tell her."

The blue-haired girl paid no attention, her nose in a book. "Foolish." She stated, flipping to another page in her book

Louise clenched her jaw as her mine ran over her words. "It doesn't matter. I'm going, and there is nothing you ca-*Cough*

The pair turned their attention to Wardes standing at the end of the hallway a long thin wooden box tucked under his arm and musket held is his free hand. "Are these friends of yours Louise?" He asked.

Louise scoffed, "Like I would be friends with a Germanian." She said, crossing her arms.

Confusion took hold of Kirche as she looked between the pair.

"Then I supposed you wouldn't need to say goodbye."

"What do you mean?" Louise asked.

"Were leaving now. Something has the Admiral in a panic."

"Admiral? We're travelling with a fleet?" Louise asked, receiving a nod in return. "But, Isn't it dangerous to leave port at night?"

"Indeed, but the message he sent us insists we leave now, something about a new class of interceptor the rebels created."

Louise shot a glare at the redhead next to her as a smile formed on her face, "Perfect, then we shall depart immediately." She started walking over to her fiancee.

"Can you carry this?" Wardes asked, handing her the musket which Louise gleefully took.

"Of course," Louise said with a smug grin grabbing the weapon and looking it over. "It weighs nothing to me." She chuckled glancing back at the redhead who only stared at her with a clenched jaw.

Letting out another audible chuckle, Louise and Wardes departed down the hall.

"Fine!" Kirche shouted, catching their attention. "we're coming with you."

"Bad idea." Tabitha muttered.

"Absolutely not!" Louise shouted, ignoring the pair and continuing down the hall.

Only to be stopped not a second later by a hand from her soon to be husband staring at the Kirche with a scrutinizing gaze. "Now hold on Louise," Wardes told the girl as he looked the girl up and down. "What rank are you two?" He asked

"Kirche von Zerbst Triangle fire mage." She replied, putting a hand on her hip. "And this is-"

"Tabitha, triangle wind mage."

Wardes scratched his chin in thought, "Could be quite useful." He muttered to himself.

"No. Wardes, you can't seriously be thinking that she's Germanian." Louise threw a finger at Kirche. "She could put the whole mission in jeopardy."

"Or she could provide useful aid with my small rose." Wardes countered, "the state of the royalist army is incredibly dire any mage would be a boon to our odds."

Louise grew red, and Kirche began to Laugh. "W-W-Wardes, don't call me that." She told the man.

After a small respite of laughter, Wardes looked back to the pair of new recruits. "Now, I feel like I don't need to say this. However, you really ought to change out of that academy uniform."

"We don't have time Wardes." Louise pleaded. "We should just leave them."

"We'll find them uniforms on Albion." He concluded turning and Gesturing them to follow him.

Louise remained in place as if her legs had turned to stone. Her grip on the musket tightening when Kirche and Tabitha passed her by.

Why did Wardes let them come, why them?

"Louise?" Wardes asked from somewhere in the inn.

"Coming." She bitterly spat out with a clenched jaw.

xXXXx

Louise watched the lights of La Rochelle as the fleet left the mainland from the top deck of the last Royalist ship of the line.

The dread that she had felt this morning, returned in force, so much so that even if she hadn't eaten anything other, then a single piece of bread Wardes had given her on their trip to Gallia she didn't want to eat even after Wardes had invited her down to eat

The fact that they were travelling with a fleet should have reassured her but no, if anything it did the opposite.

The fleet in question comprised of eight ships, seven of which were merchant ships of various makes hastily converted into military vessels.

Louise didn't know much about naval weapons, but considering the state of the ships were in, the rockets that were being mounted would no doubt be incredibly inaccurate and lack the range needed to fight other ships effectively.

"Get those rockets ready, and for the love of gods someone get up to the crow's nest, I'm not about to be surprised by the "Wolfpack" again." The old, bushy-bearded Admiral barked, as he made his rounds.

"Wolfpack?" Louise muttered to herself. Was that what they were calling the new rebel ship?

Pushing down the dread, she went back to watching the lights, silently hoping for an uneventful voyage.

xXXXx

_**A/N**_

_**Yeah i'm sorry this took so long, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry, it's short i hope for it to be longer next chapter.**_

_**Hope to see you next chapter and I hope you have a good day.**_


	14. Chapter 14: A taste of what's to come

It had been close to eight hours since they had left port and once again Louise stood up on deck like she had done when she had left.

She had attempted to sleep, but no matter how hard she tried, it was impossible to get more than an hour of sleep at a time.

The uncertainty of what they would encounter ate at her sanity.

What was the 'Wolf pack' that the admiral spoke of?

What was this new ship?

So many questions, and none she knew would be answered.

And so she stood at the edge of the ship, arms resting on the vessel handrail propping herself up as she, gazing out at the other ships in their convoy, occasionally turning her gaze to the water that flowed a few miles below her.

The serenity was blissful, perfect for getting her mind off of the looming danger she would no doubt find herself in.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, holding it as she took in the sounds around her, the creaking of the old ship, the subtle snoring of Tabitha's familiar resting near the front of the ship the and the occasional squawk of herring gulls.

Breathing out, she opened her eyes as a new surge of confidence came forward.

'I can do this.' She told herself. 'A Valliere must always head the call of Tristian.'

"Can't sleep?" Kirche asked, destroying the serenity she was enjoying.

Jolting upright, Louise shot a look of panic over her shoulder, to the fire mage, standing in her uniform a small smile on her face.

Clenching her jaw, Louise said nothing and returned to looking out over the horizon.

A sigh escaped Kirche's lips before walking over and planting herself beside the young Valliere. "It's beautiful out." She started taking in the moonlit seascape

Louise continued to ignore her.

"Look, I know you don't like me-"

A laugh cut her off. "What gave you that idea?" Louise mocked.

The fire mages nostrils flared. "Sorry for caring about your wellbeing." She bitterly replied.

"You sure do have an odd way of showing it." Louise spat out. "Bullying me, starting the name that had plagued my _entire_ tenure at the academy, then when things are starting to look up for me, when I finally succeed at magic, you come along and kick my feet out from under me. Was that done out of concern!?"

Louise faced Kirche as she readied to continued her rant, only to be cut off.

"That was never my intention!" Kirche shouted. "You were a nervous wreck, so I attempted to take the edge off. How was I supposed to know that you would act in such a manner when drunk!?"

Louise barred her teeth. "Maybe if you would have thought about the consequences instead of doing whatever pops into your head at that moment!" She took a step towards the redhead. "And even if you were trying to help that doesn't excuse the various other times you forced me to hide away in my room?

"What?" Kirche muttered in genuine confusion.

"You were always there always belittling me whenever I failed a spell, causing the rest of the class to join in on the jeering." Tears began to form in the corners of her eye. "Why do you think I spent most of my time out of class in my room."

Kirche bit her tongue, looking away from the girl. Turning in place she went back to gazing out at the horizon. "I never thought of that as bullying."

"Then what did you think you were doing?" Louise asked, her confidence wavering.

The fire mage said nothing for several moments. "I always thought of us as rivals-"

"Of course, were riva-"

"Not blood rivals. Petty rivals." Kirche corrected.

"Wha?"

A sigh escaped the redhead's lips. "Petty rivals Louise." Her voice was as soft as cotton. "Something that wouldn't cause a war like the one that..." Kirche's voice died in her throat.

"That killed so many," Louise said.

A grunt of acknowledgment came from the redhead. "Trade insults instead of spells. Build up ways to get on each other's nerves instead of weapons. Maybe occasionally even help each other, like you've been doing when it came to magical theory."

Louise blinked in confusion, "What? How? I don't remember helping you in the slightest."

Now it was Kirche's turn to be confused. "You never noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"Whenever we had a large test, I always sat behind you."

Louise shook her head. "No, I never no- Kirche are you copying off of me!?" She shouted in anger that dried her tears instantly.

A nervous smile formed on the taller girl's face. "Guilty." She said with a nervous chuckle.

"That's why the professors suddenly took a sudden interest in the area of the class I was sitting in."

"Well, I was never caught," Kirche added. "So, it's no issue."

"Absolutely not. Once we get back to the academy, I'm going to make sure that you never get a chance to copy off of me again."

The fire mage let out a deep breath, smile on her lips. "That's fair... Look, Louise, whatever pain I caused you in the past I'm sorry, it was never my intention to do so, I always believed that we were just trading jabs, you call me a Germanian streetwalker who got lost on her way home from the brothel, and I call you a zero."

Louise pursed her lips while turning away from the woman and gazed out at the horizon, hands on the rails. "Zero... That word has caused me so much pain."

Kirche took a step towards the girl, leaning over the railing in order to be in view. "That was never my intention."

The smaller girls grip on the rail tightened. "Be that as it may, what you put me through... it was so hard, it often made me question what I was doing at the academy, if I should have listened to my mother when she said I shouldn't go, that I should have just stayed home until I was old enough to marry Wardes."

Kirche's eyes widened. "You mean that guy that you were travelling with?"

Louise glared at the girl, making her annoyance known, however, Confusion quickly befell her as she noticed a shadow run over the fire mage.

It was a clear night, and she had yet to see a single sign of a cloud. Looking up towards the sky for a source, she could see three faint silhouettes up against the vast blue moon.

"Well you know, they say that gruelling experience can form bonds that last a lifetime. So this may help your marriage." Kirche added. Louise was too focused on the mysterious objects to paying any attention to the redhead. Kirche seemingly knowing something was off followed her gaze. "What is that?"

"I... I don't know." Louise muttered.

One of the silhouettes suddenly lit up for a brief moment before returning to darkness.

Confusion befell the pair for several seconds.

However, the reality of the situation made itself clear, as the ship on their starboard was ripped apart and set alight by several cannonballs.

The main mass was torn in two, toppling over and falling overboard taking the man up in the crow's nest with it.

Screams echoed in the night as the fire quickly spread atop the deck as more of whatever was causing the fire smashed into the ship.

Eyes went wide as Louise watched the destruction unfold when suddenly the crack of cannons finally reached her ear.

"Founder... Just how high up are they?" Kirche muttered her gaze still locked on the sky.

Louise stared at the burning ship, the men whose clothes had been set alight stumbling around, attempting to put it out, some of which tumbling overboard in their panic.

'What... what is happening.' She thought to herself, beginning to tremble. Her mind going blank and her legs turning to stone. This... this was how she was going to die.

She was only pushed out of this state by the rocking of the ship, the cause of which was unknown, but the effects were clear enough sending her face first to the ground while the cracking of wood echoed in her ears.

A groan escaped her lips while she attempted to pick herself up, only for the boat to rock once more, sending her back to the ground.

An unseen man grabbed her by her jacket and hoisted her to her feet who soon revealed himself to be the old bitter admiral who only gave a huff before walking off and began shouting orders to his men. "Someone get the communicator up here."

"Louise, what's going on?" shooting her gaze over to the source of her fiancee's voice, Louise watched as he emerged from below deck with the mob of deckhands rushing to their stations.

"W-w-we're being attacked." She told him, her voice shaky and filled with fear.

"From where?" He clarified.

Louise said nothing, only pointing towards the moons where the shadows still rested.

Wardes barred his teeth in apparent frustration, before marching off towards the Admiral who had gone up to the helm.

Fear clouding her mind, she did the only thing that seemed reasonable, follow the man who could protect her.

"What is the plan?" Wardes asked, climbing the stairs to the helm.

"The _Plan_ Is to change our course." The Admiral replied, turning towards them for a brief moment before looking back to the crew and turning the wheel. "Where the hell is the helmsman!?" He shouted down at his crew who were in a collective state of confusion.

"That's it. We're going to flee while attempting to dodge volleys?"

"They can only keep up this attack for another hour at most, and due to how their ships are constructed it shouldn't be able to turn with us." the man bit the inside of his cheek. "If we're lucky, they'll be unaccustomed to the speed at which they're flying at, and overshoot us."

"Overshoot us? How fast are they going?"

The man tightened his grip on the helm. "Depends on how good the wind is at their altitude."

Wardes face darkened, "So, all we can do is run." he asked dread seeping through his voice

"That's as best as we can do," Wardes turned back towards Louise about to say something when he was cut off by the Admiral. "What in all that is good in the world is that girl doing?"

The pair looked at the Admiral and followed his gaze to Tabitha, who was mounting her familiar.

"If you're thinking about trying to fight those ships, you ought to think again. You won't be able to climb to their altitude."

Ignoring the spat, Wardes turned back to Louise. "We should leave," Wardes whispered into her ear.

"What?" She whispered back, "But our dut-"

"Is to Tristian, something that we won't be able to uphold if we're dead."

Louise pursed her lips. It felt wrong. It was wrong, to abandon these people.

But at the back of her mind, she knew Wardes was right. She wasn't going to live if they stayed here. Slamming her eyes shut, she slowly nodded.

Wardes lead Louise over to Tabitha who was now levitating a visibly uncooperative Kirche onto the back of her dragon. "Can she carry us?" Wardes asked too which the Blue haired girl nodded.

An arm suddenly feeling of weightlessness overtook her as she quickly ascended up onto the dragon, looking back at words he gave her a quick smile before turning to Tabitha. "I need to go grab something, begin to ascend and act as if you're going to challenge the rebel's ships."

Tabitha once again gave the man a silent nod.

Wardes turned back to the ship rushing back inside and out of sight

The dragon extended its wings, and with a single powerful flap, lifted off into the air. "Where in gods name do you think you're going!" The admiral shouted. "You can't climb that high!"

Louise pursed her lips and looked away from the ship.

The dragon continued to climb into the air, the blue-haired girl however, only focused on the ship below them, waiting for the moment for her to descend.

That moment came sooner than expected, with Wardes bursting out of the ships carrying the same wooden box as before underneath his arm and her musket in his off-hand.

The Tristian sprinted to the bow of the ship before throwing himself overboard. Tabitha acting immediately threw her familiar into a dive, quickly catching up to the man, who promptly levitated himself onto the back of the dragon.

With the man now secured, Tabitha pulled out of the dive flew off away from the convoy as more cannonballs rained down, taking down three more ships. Leaving the capital ship alone with but a single lowly merchant ship at its side.

Louise bit her lip as she watched the convoy was destroyed. Shame overtook her, 'Where is the honour.'

xXXXx

The Admiral watched as the dragon flew off, carrying the aide that Tristian had sent them and couldn't help but bar his teeth.

Those bastards betrayed them.

Clenching his jaw, he turned to one of the deckhands next to him. "Where is our communicator?"

"Last I saw him he was still in his bunk." The young blonde man replied.

The admiral grit his teeth, a conniving smile appearing on his lips. They want to betray the Royal navy, the jaws of the Tudor's Then they best get ready to be bitten.

Rushing down the stairs and into the ship, the Admiral pushed passed panicked men until he reached the crew deck. Soon finding the bunk that was assigned to the young man whose sole qualification for this job was his familiar.

However, the man laid on his bed, his eyes frozen in a state of panic and both bloodied hands on his throat.

The older man clenched his hand into a fist. Was this what the war had come too.

The sudden rocking of the ship pulled him back to reality. No, he had to get what remaining men he still had left home.

"Sir." a young panicked deckhand shouted, stumbling into the room, his breathing laboured and his skin slicked with sweat. "There's a fire, up on deck, Sir Adam attempted to put out the fire, but it just grew larger."

"That's because it's an oil fire. Get sand and smother it." He barked. He couldn't doubt himself. They still had a long way to go before they could reach port

xXXXx

"Can someone tell me what is going on?" Kirche asked, breaking the nearly ten-minute silence that had permeated the atmosphere since they had left the convey. "First we're helping the royalists and now were betraying them? Whose side are we on Louise?"

Louise was about to mention something when Tabitha cut her off. "Helping the Royalists, not the goal," Tabitha explained. "Most likely attempting to cover something up."

Louise bit her lip at how close the girl was.

Kirche turned in her seat, fuming. "Well considering that were following you into a civil war mind explaining what our goal actually is."

Louise wanted to yell, to tell her to mind her own business, but couldn't, no matter how hard she tried her body just wouldn't listen to her.

"We are here to meet with the royal family which is currently being housed at Newcastle," Wardes explained.

"Ok, so we fly there to meet with the family and get back to Tristian." Kirche surmised

"Not simple." Tabitha butted in. "Newcastle encircled too dangerous to fly there, friendly lines are fifty miles from Newcastle."

Kirche looked at the girl, before throwing her gaze to the smaller girl behind her who avoided her eye contact. A chuckle escaped the redhead's lips. "If my parents hear about this." The redhead muttered to herself.

"Not turning back?" Tabitha questioned glancing back at the redhead.

"We already came this far Tabby, and I would only fall into the backstabbing Germanian stereotype if I were to run home," Kirche replied. "Besides, if the royalty is encircled, the rest of the island should be rather calm."

Louise, from her position behind Kirche, noticed the blue-haired girl's face darken. "Where are we landing?"

Wardes pointed towards a dark cloud off in the distance. "The port of Burnmouth."

xXXXx

_Journal of Montmorency Margarita la Fère de Montmorency_

_Research log, 23 day of the 3__rd__ month of water._

_I'm making outstanding progress, yesterday Guiche and I cracked open the shell the Louise had given us and within I found a large opaque wax-like substance, after which I went about the process of melting down the wax, into a liquid state making sure not to let an open flame come into contact with it, lest I end up in a worse place than the school infirmary._

_However, after pushing past the nearly vomit-inducing smell, I soon had a liquid wax made up of whatever this explosive is made of._

_It was then that one of the school professors, Richard I think his name was. Let me know that the smell from the wax was disturbing the other students. I let the man know that what I was doing was rather crucial to the future of Tristian and potentially all of Halkeginia, but he was having none of it. Ordering that I close down my experiments._

_It is due to this that I've moved my operations to a seemingly abandoned cottage in the nearby woods, in the case that it hasn't been abandoned I've set aside the last of my money in order to pay the owner should he happen to turn up._

_Due to this interruption, I've yet to make any more progress in solving this problem. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure out and replicate this in the coming days so that I can focus all of my effort on attempting to sell this product._

_In that field I've sent out a few letters probing some of the various nobles around Lake Lagdorian, void know's how they're reacting to the military buildup in Gallia._

_Perhaps I should look at the nobles on the coast. If Albion falls to the rebels and they turn on us, they'll be the first to face the brunt of the heretical army._

_I have to be careful, though. I doubt people will be all too kind to my feud balance._

_If I can pull this off, however, we should see the end of familial feuding._

_I shouldn't concern myself with such matters. We're still waiting for Guiche's uncle to get back to us with that musket barrel, although if he declines perhaps we could go with a bounty system of sorts. Send letters to the best gunsmiths with the task of designing a musket barrel that could handle the powder. Whoever designs the best barrel wins the bounty._

_However, that is the issue at this stage._

_Anyways, it's getting late. I should finish this entrée before sunrise._

_Still. Gazing down at this journal reminds me when it was just that, something that I could just put all my emotions into. Now it's something that I use to track my progress._

_Hopefully, something good comes out of this, and maybe one day i can regain the wealth and power that was once associated with the name Montmorency._

_xXXXx_

**_A/N_**

**_So i don't really have much to add in this author's notes other than thanking everyone who leaves reviews. i know i don't really mention them and i don't respond but just know that i cherish every single person who takes the time to let me know what they think about my story._**

_**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you have a great day.**_


	15. Chapter 15: First step on the white isle

"What are you doing here? Are you a spy? Assassin sent to kill our prince?"

The rugged-looking man's words entered Louise's ears but her mind was elsewhere attempting to process all that she had just bore witness too.

They had arrived sometime after daybreak, the town, was in shambles. Large portions of it had been destroyed by what Wardes surmised as cannon fire while close to a third of it lay in ashes. Wardes had explained the two-part process which lead to the destruction. First, the rebels would drop cannonballs to create debris and then drop oil bombs to ignite it creating massive fires that are difficult to combat.

It was around this time that they had taken fire from the town below. Royalists defenders manning puckle guns forced them down, where they were taken prisoner and separated on charges of being agents for Reconquista.

That's where she saw the true cost of the destruction. Bodies lined the streets, given no more thought than a simple covering, to save the survivors the disgust at seeing the disfigured and the damned. She soon found herself being led into a cellar and sat on a barrel at a table with her interrogator shouting accusations at her.

One image that her mind was fixated on, was a crying mother, in her arms was her malnourished son whose only reason for being murdered was being in the wrong place.

It angered her, where was the honour? Where was the chivalry that she learned about in the books she read?

***SMASH*** The man's fist collided with the table, causing the girl to flinch in fear at his anger. "Are you listening? If you do not answer my questions, I will have you hung as an enemy of the state!"

"I'm not a spy." She muttered continuing to gaze at the table before her unable to look her interrogator. Barring his teeth, the man launched forward, grabbing her jacket by the collar and pulling her towards him. A terrified yelp escaped her lips as her stomach collided with the solid wood. A staunch reminder of the reality she found herself in. "I'm... an envoy... of Tristian." The veneer of confidence had been shattered.

"Tristian?" The man was uncomfortably close, to the point that she could feel the heat radiating off of his face. Yanking again he continued. "This isn't a Tristian uniform."

"It's... a Germanian uniform." Louise struggled to get out in her state of panic.

"So, you're from Germania and not Tristian? He spat. "The same Germania that has an entire detachment of volunteers bolstering the rebel's army?" The man yanked a pistol out from his waist and pressed the barrel, against her cheek. "Perhaps I should end you here? Save our military court the time."

Heart pounding her eyes were fixed on the gun, closing her eyes she hoped that the man would take pity on her. The door was suddenly thrown open slamming against the wall and forcing the girl's eyes open. In the doorway was a tired-looking figure clad in a tarnished uniform that had seen better days. It was a man she knew all too well. "Prince Wales?"

"Louise?" He questioned at the sight of the small pink-haired girl. "Captain Arundell, what's the meaning of this?" Anger coated his words.

The man who had been an imposing interrogator shrunk down letting go of her and kneeling before the prince. "M-M-My lord. I was simple interrogating the prisoners that my men and I had captured."

"I believe my orders were that all prisoners were to be interrogated by myself."

"Of course, my lord, but General Rupert had requested that all interrogation ought to be done by the units that captured them after the previous attempt on your life last week." The captain added.

The prince gaze turned to her. "you are to halt the interrogation of the men and women you captured and get back to your post and get those guns disassembled like i had asked several hours ago."

"Yes, my lord." Without another word, the captain slinked out of the room. Leaving her alone with prince Wales.

Without another word, the man drew the rapier from his hip and pointed it at her. "When was the last time we met?"

A bead of sweat formed on her brow at the sight of a rapier's points so close to her face. "The princess's birthday two years ago."

The man eyed her for a moment before a smile soon appeared on his tired-looking face. "Correct." He said, his voice barely audible. Sticking his blade back into its sheath He moved over to the table. "What is Tristian doing here?" He asked taking a seat at the table and taking off his hat. "I would have figured you were still studying at the academy?"

"I was your highness, but she gave me a mission of the utmost importance." Pursing her lips, she glanced around the room. "She sent you a letter, and well, from what I heard it may contain evidence of infidelity, which would jeopardize her marriage to the Emperor of Germania."

"Oh, That letter." The prince let out a tired sigh. "That may be an issue." he confided.

"What do you mean?"

"I had left the letter back at Newcastle before heading down to deal with the Celtic people of the north. By the time it was encircled. I could have had it destroyed. The keyword is could."

"What happened?"

"Partisans happened. They found our communication post and destroyed it killing most of the familiars inside and destroying our connection to Newcastle and they're making sure it's impossible to get messages in or out of that city. So, I'll need your groups help to break through the Reconquista's lines."

Rushing around the table. Louise dropped to a knee her head down. "Y-Y-Your Royal highness, I would be more than willing to put my life on the line to aid in the future of Tristian." Opening her eyes, She looked up at the man who seemed to be in a state of reflection. "But as for the others that will be up to them."

Without answering the man simply shook his head. "No." standing up he walked past her exiting the room.

Shocked, Louise stayed still for a moment as her mind attempted to process what had just transpired. "No?" She asked herself. Standing up she rushed to catch up with the crown prince, up the stairs and back out onto the street of the destroyed town. "What do you mean no?" She asked finally catching up the man.

He glanced at her as he answered. "No, forget about what I asked. This isn't you're war I'm not prepared to send the sons and daughters of foreign nations to die for our futile cause."

The pair weaved through the seemingly aimless crowds that had gotten to work attempting to clear the rubble off of the road. "But I can help."

"Has your magic improved?"

"Well. No."

"Have you received any military training?"

Taking a deep breath, she attempted to work up the courage to lie, but it was no use. "No." She muttered with a sigh.

Prince Wales stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. "Louise, think of Henrietta for a moment, how do you think she would feel if you came back home in a box on a mission, she assigned to you?"

"But the letter!?"

The man grimaced and continued to walk. "That is my own fault for not burning it when I should, something that I'm going to correct once I get back to Newcastle."

The girl was taken aback by his determination. "But. I thought you needed are help to break through the lines?"

"Having more mages is always a good thing, but if i can get this one item moving, then perhaps i won't even need A smile formed on the prince's face. "Follow me." He led her through the ruined streets of the once busy port until they came to a sight that shocked the pink-haired girl.

On the narrow street in front of her, covered from the air by tarps set up between the houses, was a vehicle that reminded her of her familiar. The cannon, the otherworldly design. The only real difference other than the shape was the four wheels that it was propped up on, making it resemble an armoured carriage even more so than her own familiar.

People in various uniforms were crawling all over it like ants on a dropped piece of pie. It was clear that they were attempting to understand it but what confused her was just where did they get such a weapon?

"What is this?" She asked.

"from the books we have on it and accounts of the commoners that had once crewed it, they called it a Daimler armoured car."

"Where did it come from?" Louise asked.

"After the commoners that once commanded this metal beast passed away, we procured it under royal order and sealed it away in the vaults." Wales paused as if attempting to remember something. "Under his pope's orders, none of the vaults are to be opened. This was ratified in the treaty of Vienna signed nearly a millennia ago."

Louise shook her head upon hearing the last part. "Doesn't that mean that you're going against the pope?"

Wales shook his head. "There is a stipulation that you may open the vault if your aggressor did so first. Since Cromwell decided to field of few of his own armoured carriages he plundered from the vaults in Manchester, were allowed to do the same." He explained. "Not to mention that it was agreed that whoever opened the vault would be dealt with by a coalition force of Brimiric nations." He added the last part under his breath.

Her heart sank into her gut at that sentence. Reconquista, has weapons like her Familiar? "How did you get it here?" She asked taking another step to the metal beast.

"Before the fall of Londonium, we had our strongest dragons airlift it out of the city. We attempted to grab more gear from the vault but, well they had already taken the skies by that time." He explained. "However, at this point, it's in no shape to be fighting, we don't even know how to work it, something that the Reconquistan forces had figured out a long time ago."

That's how she could help.

Walking over to the machine she placed a hand on the hood, instantly the ways of the machine revealed themselves to her. "Daimler mark two." She muttered.

She could use this breakthrough the lines, and ensure the safety of Henrietta's marriage. All she needed was a driver and a gunner.

"New weapon?" A soft voice muttered from behind her?

Glancing over her shoulder she found Tabitha gazing with an interest rarely seen in the girl. "Yes," Louise responded. 'That takes care of the driver.'

xXXXx

On the other side of Town, a freezing Kirche wondered the ruined streets, looking for both her blue-haired friend and a tailor where she could possibly find something warmer to wear. Her face was marred with the red mark of her interrogator's hand who seemed to have been lacking a sense of humour if the dull stinging pain that permeated her cheek.

Letting out a sigh, she looked to the signs that were on some of the buildings that had luckily escaped the carriage that had destroyed most of the time.

The language was foreign, the people around her were foreign she was cold; she couldn't ask for help. A groan escaped through clenched teeth. Why did she have to offer to help that tiny Valliere?

What she did know was that the universe was raining down on her, every punishment imaginable.

Eventually, she found herself at the doorstep of a tiny shop situated at the end of a rubble-filled street. As to what it sold, only the gods knew. Opening the door, a tiny tolled alerting the old lady inside of a customer who greeted her in the strange language.

Giving the woman a slight smile, she lifted her hand to silently greet her, before taking in the wares. As luck would have it, it seemed that this was some sort of material shop. However, it seemed the story was low on inventory, as the rods that the fabric would have been spun around, were mostly empty save for the rather expensive fabric.

"Uh." She started getting the woman's attention. "Do you have any pants? Or a jacket of some kind?"

The woman let out a huff and went off on a tangent about gods knows what. But Kirche had a clue in the fact that throughout the rant the word "Germania," Could be heard. This left little doubt in the redhead that she was berating her nationality.

Letting out a sigh she gestured to her legs. "Pants?" She asked in Gallian, hoping that she would maybe understand.

The woman gazed to her leg then back up to her face. In a huff, she began yelling at her with all of her might and pointing in a rage to the door.

When She didn't move, the woman stomped out from behind the counter and shoved her out of the shop.

Now back onto the chilly street. She pulled out her wand and muttered a small incantation. A flame popped up on the end of her foci which she held close to her chest in an attempt to stay warm.

"Ah, Kirche." The distinctive voice of Wardes brought her attention to the man currently jogging up to her. "Have you seen Louise?" He asked coming to a stop in front of her.

"No, I've mostly been looking for some clothing that better fits this environment." She replied.

"Yes, it is quite chilly for this time of year." He said glancing at the store that she had just exited. "Well you did find the Tailor, Do you not have money?"

A chuckle escaped her lips. "Yeah, I don't know Albionese, and when I tried to gesture to what I wanted she got all flustered and kicked me out."

"I... see." Wardes muttered. "Listen, I'll help explain the situation, and then I'll head back out to find my Fiancee." He told the redhead with a smile.

Kirche let out a sigh, "I got no complaints with that."

The man led her back into the store, upon seeing the redhead once again, the old woman once again berated the girl, only to be stopped by a chuckling Wardes who briefly explained what she was doing here.

The woman turned red from embarrassment and quickly ushered the Germanian into the back room.

"I'll come back here once I've found the rest of the group," Wardes told her.

"Alright." She replied as she was pushed into the dressing room.

Not a few minutes later, she was up on a platform as the woman was taking her measurements who showed her skill in the trade, by the way, she accounted for every detail, marking them on a small piece of parchment.

She would occasionally crack jokes that only she would laugh at due to the Germanian not understanding her, but her smile reassured her that it wasn't directed at her, or perhaps it was. She couldn't tell.

After what felt like Hours the woman had finished her work. With another smile, the woman wandered off into another room in the building, leaving the redhead alone. "Alright, I'll just stay here." She said to herself.

Finding a chair in the corner of the room by a workbench, confusing the girl. The woman soon returned to the room in her hands was an old looking pair of pants and jacket. She set them down on the workbench and presented them to the girl, next to it a note, with the number three hundred scrawled on it.

Her jaw dropped at the boldness of this woman. "Thre-Three hundred?" She sputtered. The woman continued to gaze at her a childish smile on her face. A single laugh left the Germanian's mouth. "Is this a joke?" She asked. "Three hundred Ecu's for that?" The woman maintained her smile unknowing to what the woman said, Grabbing a pant leg, she raised it to the woman. "This isn't new, I could get used clothes for less than a single ecu back home."

The smile twisted into a scowl, a shouting match commenced between the two, neither of whom could understand what the other was saying.

Curses exchanged.

Outragus mockeries of the others nationalities were done.

And in the end. When Kirche marched out of that store, her pants were now covered in some overpriced dirty rags that barely fit for pants, an old itchy jacket now hugged her torso and her pockets were now suddenly lighter.

Grumbling, she took a seat on the step-in front of the store's entranceway, waiting for the return of their group so they could go do gods knows what.

But as she sat in wait, something caught her attention, it was a low rumbling in the distance. It reminded her of the sound Louise's familiar made while running. But it was different, it had a higher tone than the tank.

As she looked towards the source of the sound, she watched as the crowd that had filled the street was slowly parting. Above the crowd was a part of whatever was parting it, a weirdly shaped metal dome with a cannon that reminded her once again of that tank as well as a long thin metal rod from which flew the Royalist's colours.

As the crowd thinned out, she got a clear view of the people manning it. "What in the gods damned?" She muttered to herself, watching as Louise sat, grinning ear to ear, Behind her was Wardes and a young blonde man who was in a similar state of joy and of course, Tabitha stuck inside of it, her only view to the outside world a large rectangular gap in the armour "What is it with you and weird metal beasts?" Kirche questioned as the thing pulled up.

Louise only shrugged. "Perhaps I'm just the best earth mage in the world and just don't know it yet." She said. "Now, get in. I've got to train you on this cannon before we begin our march."

"Well." She started standing up, "It beats walking fifty miles." Walking over to the beast, she climbed up on to the back, passing by the two men who were seemingly pleased with the use of this machine, and dropped down into the turret beside the small Valliere.

"Alright Tabitha, get us out of the city." The weapon lurched forward, making its way through the crowded streets. "By the way Kirche."

"What is it, Louise."

"Why do you look like a commoner Vagrant?"

A sigh escaped the Fire mage's mouth. "It's a long story."

xXXXx

_Journal of Montmorency Margarita la Fère de Montmorency_

_Research log, 24__th __ day of the 3rd month of water._

_I couldn't sleep, so I'd resigned myself to looking at our budget, and on this front, I've failed, after all the money I've put aside for various expenses I have no more funds to procure what I need to continue testing._

_As such this morning I plan to head into the capital and see if I can get a patent for my creations. After that, I can look into procuring investments from the various lords of the land._

_A taste of the bureaucracy that is to come. I only hope that it isn't as bad as I've heard and that I can quickly return to my research._

xXXXx

_**A/N**_

_**Hey, it's been quite a while. I'm sorry for the wait i've been rather busy with other ideas that my mind just couldn't get rid of. so I do hope you can forgive me for this.**_

_**I guess this story is technically a girl and her armoured car now. **_

_**Hopefully, next chapter won't take as long and I can stay focused on getting these done. Thanks for reading and sticking with me, I hope to hear what you have to say and i hope that you have a great day.**_


	16. Chapter 16: A march towards war

'What was he doing?'

That was a question that rattled around Guiche's head as he sat in the empty dining hall as he rolled the sapphire ring around in the palm of his hand.

It had taken a while to make, but in the end, it turned out as perfect as can be, the brass was as polished with no blemishes to be seen, the gem itself has been carefully placed atop it as too give the illusion that nothing was holding the gem. Yet the issue he faced was that he never found a good time to give it to her. There had been times, yet Montmorency always was more interested in the work she had been doing.

That picnic, that they had by the river would have been a perfect time, it was exactly like the tomes he had seen her read.

Yet.

Sticking the ring into his pocket, he let out a sigh. Was it wrong of him, he wondered? to try and pull his bride to be away from the work she so desperately pursed even if only for a night?

All he wanted was a way to show her that he did care, that he could atone for his past mistakes, but even so, there was a small part of him that was just frustrated, that wanted to give up. To say 'go to hel with this marriage contract and let me live my life since you're too wrapped up with your work to give a damn'

It didn't help that every time he thought of the wedding his stomach churned over.

It confused him, so many thoughts filled his head, it was almost enough to make his head explode.

"Are you going to move son?" The sudden arrival of the new voice caused him to look up from the table to the sight of the large burly head chef, standing on the other side of the table. "Hello? Do I need to drag your drunk ass out of here?" He asked when he received no response.

With a quick shake of his head, he replied. "No, I'm not drunk, I'm perfectly sober."

"Ah you could have fooled us, the servants have been trying to get you to move for the past half hour now."

What? Looking to his left, he found that there were indeed several servants with cleaning supplies in their hands. "Ah." He muttered. "I'm truly sorry," He told them hastily standing up, only to trip over his own foot and causing him to stumble over to the next table over.

The chef let out a tired sigh while the young Garmont picked himself up. "I'm probably going to regret this but what is causing so much trouble in your oh so perfect noble life?"

"Why should I tell a commoner such as yourself?" He replied a scowl on his face.

The man shrugged. "Fine, don't tell me, keep those secrets to yourself. Good luck with whatever it is troubling you." Without another word, he gestured to the servants who quickly got to work cleaning the table.

A loud clunk of the massive doors echoed throughout the room. "Chef Marteau!" Professor Colbert shouted jogging in from the outside. His breathing ragged his face red, and it looked as if he had just ran all the way from the capital.

"Ah, Professour." The chef greeted with a smile.

Colbert stopped in front of him, pausing for a moment to catch his breath. "Louise. Have you seen Louise? No one has seen her since the day before yesterday?" Colbert asked between breaths.

"No. she's been on laundry duty." The man paused as if remembering something. "But now that you mention it, I remember some servants seeing a griffin yesterday morning." Turning to one of the servants that had been waiting to clean the tables. "Alison weren't you there?"

The maid looked rather uncomfortable upon being asked, her eyes darting around the room looking for a way out. Visibly squirming under both the academic's and chef's gaze she eventually gave in. "I... can't sayanything." Sher blurted out.

"But there was a griffin right?"

"No." The young woman told the pair as she nodded."

"No?" Marteau repeated.

"Yes there was no Griffin at the gate." She said while shaking her head no.

Marteau let out a sigh. "Well it seems that the young noble has had enough with the life of a servant." He said turning to the professor. "Although this doesn't explain why they're being so secretive. Perhaps it's time for you to go have a chat with the young Claudie. She's the only one that can do this sort of thing."

The professor paled, "Oh founder." Colbert muttered under his breath. "She's going to be here today to pick up the report. Founder why is everything going so wrong so fast."

"Uh, Professor, Is everything ok?" Guiche asked cutting into the conversation.

The man looked to him in surprise, as if he hadn't even noticed him before now. "Eh, yes everything is perfectly fine." An obvious lie. The man once again muttered something. Turning back to the chef, he excused himself and proceeded to move towards the exit, stopping halfway when he seemingly remembered something. "Oh, uh. Classes have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, think of it as an extended summer break."

Without waiting for a response, the man rushed out of the dining hall. Confused by the scene that had just happened in front of him, Guiche simply stood in place. "What just happened?" He mumbled.

"Who knows," Marteau replied to the non-question. "All I can say is that I'm glad that it's going to quiet down around here which can only be a good thing." The young-earth mage could hear the man walk up behind him, who then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Now, please get out of my dining hall so that my workers can sufficiently clean it."

The Garmont couldn't help but feel that there was a threat behind these words.

xXXXx

Everything was going wrong. Osmond had yet to wake up from his collapse two days ago, the potential carrier of the void was missing and the girl's mother was coming today to pick up the report.

Right now, he had but one goal, figure out where in the world Louise had wandered off too.

Passing by a pair of horses being prepped by a few of the servants he briefly stopped to ask them where the head maid was. They only shrugged and said that "Last they saw she was preparing breakfast for the rest of the workers. At the servant's cabin."

This made little sense as that had been the first place he had looked.

Re-entering the Servants quarters his nose was immediately assaulted by the scent of eggs being cooked. Following his nose to the source he soon found the head maid standing over a wood fire stove, cooking a large batch of eggs.

The woman glanced up and smiled at the Professor. "Ah Mister Colbert, how have you been?" The girl let out a chuckle. "I would make you some eggs but I'm behind as is."

"Where is Louise?" His tone was clear and to the point.

"Hmm?" The woman glanced at him. "I'm not sure what you mean?"

Clenching his jaw, Colbert walked over to the woman until he was right next to her. "One of your workers said that she saw a griffin by the gate yesterday, the last day just before she was gone. So where is she?"

"That may have been the case, but how does this connect to me?" She asked.

"Because she was acting aloof and attempted to hide what she had seen. Now I'm asking where is she?" Colbert's asked, his voice no longer hiding the anger.

The woman let out a sigh. "Even if I wanted to say where, I couldn't."

"And why is that?" Colbert's heart skipped a beat, at the newly arrived voice of the Duchess. Looking over his shoulder He found her standing in the doorway clad her Manticore armour.

Claudie let out yet another sigh. "Royal gag order."

"Royal?" Colbert mouthed, too which the maid nodded.

"If you want answers, you'll have to go ask the princess directly. By my oath to her, I can't say anything."

Colbert felt a chill run down his spine as the room seemingly grew a few degrees colder. "I'm taking my leave." He could feel the stone-cold gaze on the back of the duchess on the back of his neck. "Colbert. You're coming with me, I want you to explain to me everything that you know about this situation." Without another word, the woman marched away out of sight

After what felt like minutes, Colbert broke out of his trace and chased after the powerful woman, finding her mounting the massive Manticore that was her Familiar. Audibly gulping, he stepped forward towards what felt like a manticore den and climbed atop of it, sitting behind arguably the most powerful mage of all humankind.

Well perhaps second strongest, if only to the possible void carrier that was her daughter.

xXXXx

The grey sky hung over the marching royalist army who numbered only a few thousand. Near the front of the column was the young Valliere, whose top was poking out of the top of the armoured car that had been treated as another wagon, full of various items needed for the march. Sat behind the Albionese grenadiers that she had been attached too, and the Calvary of which the prince and her fiancee were a part of

Her mind as she watched the fields of clouds roll on by was a confused messed as the many ideas she had of the Albionese army were all but destroyed by what she had seen just before the march had begun.

She remembered it perfectly, her mind replaying it as if it was the most important thing in the world. The supposed legendary order that the Albionese military was known for was nowhere to be seen. The prince argued with his general for going behind his back with orders he didn't know about, the general arguing with the leader of what remained of the royalist's dragon nights for not being courageous enough to face the nearly six thousand strong Reconquistan dragon knights. Everyone arguing with the quartermaster for stating that they simply didn't have enough equipment for everyone.

It was a mess.

Worst of all had to be the grenadiers.

When prince Wales said that they would be attached to them she was so happy. The stories she had heard when she was a kid, about their bravery and unwavering strength, dressed in an elegant red uniform and armoured with the best weapons money could buy.

The truth of the matter was that was all just stories. She remembered just how bad they looked, most them were old, and had probably served in the previous war with Germania, a lot of them had been wounded in some way, from something as simple as a bandage covering up a cut, too some who were missing eyes and had half their face covered in the white fabric.

However, most telling was the state of gloom that had constricted the entire company of soldiers. Not a single one looked to have any pride left. It looked as if they were simply going through the motions.

But the grenadiers were the lucky ones, being the elite soldiers, they were, they got first pick of weapons they could use. The rest of the force, however. The conscripts were stuck using matchlock weapons from close to a hundred years ago, blades halberds, any weapon the royalist's forces could get their hands on. They didn't even have uniforms, only armbands with the royalist colours.

Slouching forward, she rested her torso on top of the only well-supplied thing in this whole army. Its ammo hadn't been touched giving her a full load to work with and its fuel tanks were in a similar state allowing her to run back and forth between Newcastle and burnmouth, several times.

It made her wonder what combat was like, just the thought of it made her stomach turn over, but it was something that was going to arrive sooner rather than later.

"Gah." Kirche mumbled beside her while scratching her neck. "This jacket sucks."

It was a marvel to her, how a person about to be sent into battle, could only care about her comfort now.

Louise decided against, mentioning anything. Perhaps it was better that her gunner wasn't in a state of panic like she was before a fight.

"Column halt!" The general leading the march ordered, causing the army to come to a stop at a crossroad.

Right, this was part two of the plan. The soldiers in front of them split into two groups each of which had an officer on horseback and each group took one of the roads before them. They were to guard the flanks as Partisans from what Wales had said, had been spotted in the area.

This left them at the front of the formation, and with a new job. They were supposed to act as an emergency reinforcement if either force came under fire and needed back up.

However, this meant that they needed to wait a while for the flank guards to reach the roads they were supposed to follow.

Ducking back into the armoured car, she leaned in close to Tabitha. "Turn it off!" She shouted over the sound of the engine. With a nod, the blue-haired girl reached over to the ignition panel and turned the engine off.

"Hey, Louise," Kirche called from above her, prompting the girl to get back to her original position.

"What is it?" She asked popping out of the turret.

"I don't know," Kirche asked looking down the road.

Pulling the binoculars she had found in this car up to her eyes she saw a dozen or so men and women in tattered clothes stumbling down the road. Their skin marred with ash and mud, the entire group's eyes were fixed on the ground in front of them.

All that they carried if they had anything was a simple bag that held gods knows what.

"Halt!" one of the officers suddenly shouted. Prompting the group to stop. "Search them," the same officer ordered.

As the group stopped in front of the army, a general sense of unease took hold, no one said anything but it was clear that something had happened before they had shown up that these men had experienced something with one of these groups that had shaken them.

There was something with the way the group of refugees looked at them, it was one of apathy, it was on disgust and hatred, they hated them.

Two soldiers for every person were sent to search the group, one held them at gunpoint while the other searched. "I want you to train your cannon on them." Wardes suddenly whispered to her.

"What!?" She whispered back clearly in disgust at this idea.

"Do it."

"Why?"

Her fiancee clenched his jaw. "I've heard stories of men throwing their lives away for the rebellion, in an attempt to take as many enemies with them. Perhaps we can keep them in line if he's shown our strength."

Louise mulled it over, the entire time she felt like she wanted to throw up. Looking to her gunner, she found her in a similar state of disgust. "Kirche. Train the cannon on the group." She muttered.

The pink-haired girl watched as Kirche swallowed the fear before ducking back inside the turret. The gun slowly descended to focus on the group, whose less courageous members flinched at. Crouching down she grabbed a solid-shot shell and slid it into the cannon.

The breach slammed shut with a simple pull of the lever, the group would be killed.

Sweat began to form on her brow as she popped back up atop the turret. Unknowingly she began to fidget as she focused on the group as they were searched

First, it was the children who were clean and had nothing upon them that could threaten the army, then the woman, and then the men.

As the soldiers searched a man who looked to be in his fifties, did Louise feel the weight lift off of her shoulders.

"Wand!" The soldier shouted at the top of his lungs.

Before she had even time to react, the soldier was engulfed in flames. His unholy screams filled her ears. Followed by an explosive bang of the gun that had been trained on him during the search. The man who had been a mage in disguise now lied dead on the road. The soldier had been extinguished, uniform blackened by ash, and his body horribly disfigured by the burns that wrapped around his body

Louise in reaction threw her head over the side of the armoured car, as bile rose from her stomach.

Then the smell hit her.

Unable to contain it vomit left her mouth, what little food had been inside was no more but a puddle on the side of the road.

Groaning she picked herself, only to see what had happened after. Several of the group that had seemingly attempted to escape now lie dead, the rest were apprehended and were currently being dragged out into the field to the right of the road.

She began to tremble at the thought of what would take place.

An officer rode up to the group as soldiers barely held back by their officers shouted curses at the group.

"Traitors!" One said

"Cowards!" Another added.

"Execute them!" A third begged.

The various people of the group begged to be spared, some of the parents pleaded to have their children let go, but the officer was having none of it.

The firing squad lined up and took aim at the group.

Unable to handle it she ducked back inside to turret where the rest of her crew remained, obviously unnerved by the screams and pleas of the civilians.

Even Tabitha's grip on the wheel looked to be as tight as can be.

The screams ended with a volley of gunshots that Forced the young Valliere's eyes shut.

She kept them shut, praying that all of this was just a bad dream, that she would wake up and be back in those servant quarters she hated.

'You have to be strong.' She told herself. 'Henrietta is counting on you.' She wished it was that easy.

"Prepare to scatter at a moment's notice, we can expect dragons to arrive shortly!" One of the officers from outside shouted.

"Louise?" It was Wardes. How she needed to hear his voice.

Slowly she stood back up out of the turret, finding Wardes next to her standing on the rear of the car. Without a moment's notice, she spun around and hugged the man with all of her might who seemed surprised by the sudden contact.

"The first-time witnessing death is the hardest." Wardes confided. "Its best you grow and learn from this moment,"

"It's not like the books," Louise muttered into his neck.

Louise could hear a slight sigh. "No Louise. No, it's not."

xXXXx

_A/N So this is probably the fastest i've put out a chapter, but here it is, i've hit a bout of inspiration and have just been pumping out words, I hope you guy like what i did for this chapter and i hope to see you in the future._

_Hope to hear from you and that you have a great day_


	17. Chapter 17: Rule of Steel

The royal hedge maze, a place of relative solitude and peace, a place that brought back memories of her times as a child, when she used to run among roses and cornflowers on her way to this most grandiose project her grandfather commissioned.

She remembered the times she and Louise attempted to solve this puzzle when they were but five. She still couldn't help but chuckle at the result. They couldn't find the way out, so after screaming for help, they were picked up by the giant manticore, of her mother's close friend.

But that was so long ago, before the weight of politics, and the expectations of the soon to be ruler of Tristian, were thrust upon her.

Now, all she had were memories.

"Your highness!" The voice of her former wet-nurse turned servant the most trusted, servant in the castle, and the only other person besides Wardes and Louise who knew about the mission, Clarisse, who had shouted out from somewhere in the maze.

The worry in her voice, caused Henrietta to pause before answering, Clarisse was a rather laid-back individual, and it took a rather high level of stress to get her to worry about anything. "Always look on the bright side." She would say.

"One second!" She shouted back across the hedgerows. "I'll come to you." withdrawing her wand from her dress, she muttered a quick incantation. Her body soon begins to float up into the air, as she flew higher, she spotted the older gray-haired woman, looking up at her. Her hands clamped together, and her face red as if she had just ran a mile.

Floating over to her she, descended and landed right in front of her. "We have a problem," The older woman stated.

"What is it?"

"It's... "It's..." The woman stopped herself and took a deep breath, calming herself. "It's duchess Valliere."

The name sent a chill down the young woman's spine. "What is she doing here?"

The woman shook her head frantically. "I don't know, from what I overheard, she wished to see you."

The princess's throat went dry, there was a large chance that she simply wanted to check in on her mother, and was just stopping by to see her, but the timing. It couldn't have been a coincidence. Looking away from the woman, she pondered what to do.

"Alright." She muttered turning back to face her. "Let her know I'm busy with one of the cardinals many lessons, and that I'll attempt to make room to see her tomorrow."

"But what about tomorrow?"

"I'll think about that when I get there. As for right now, it's important to buy time for Loui-"

"Your Highness." The princess went rigid, her mouth went dry and sweat began to form on her brow. Looking over her shoulder, she found her best friend's mother, staring at her with the same stone face look she always wore. "Where is my daughter?"

xXXXx

"She's on Albion." Her voice, carried with it no emotion as she exited the maze. Colbert could only stare in bewilderment while the words echoed around in his head. Albion? why would the princess send her to such a place?

"So, what are you going to do?" Colbert asked as he watched her walk over to her Manticore.

Climbing atop it, she fitted her helmet. "Go get her before she ends up dead or captured."

Colbert wanted to protest, but he knew that once the heavy wind set about doing something, there was no stopping her.

xXXXx

As the day dragged on, the weather on Albion only got worse, the dull grey sky had unleashed a torrent of chilling rain.

This left Louise with two options, close the hatch, and open the entrance at the bottom of the turret, or leave the hatch open and drench herself.

So, there she sat in the dimly lit turret, by a woman who belonged to a family she was raised to hate, listening to the pitter-patter of rain on the roof of the car, barely audible to the hum of the engine.

She hated it.

It gave her time to think, which after what had just happened, she could do without, right now she would do anything to get her mind off of that execution.

But there was a question that had plagued her since they had left the sight of the execution. "Kirche?"

"Hmm?" She hummed in acknowledgement.

Louise couldn't face, and continued looking towards the floor. "How come, you had no objections on turning the cannon on those peasants?"

The Germanian remained silent for a time, "Tell me, Louise, what do you know about Germania?"

Louise bit the inside of her cheek, truth be told she hardly knew anything about the large territory to the north, "Well, they're arguably the best land fighting force in Halkenginia. They have an elective monarchy and the monsters make the land rather treturous."

The woman let out a hum. "Figured as much."

"Instability," Tabitha added from her position.

"Yeah," Kirche mumbled. "Germania is a shell of its former self if the stories my grandparents told me were true. But to answer your question, I'm sort of used to it."

Louise looked to the girl with a raised eyebrow causing Kirche to let out a huff.

"Peasant revolts were so common growing up that my family drilled its men to fire on civilians without a second thought, of course, this was rather hard to do, but as it turns out, people won't really care so long as they don't know any of the people revolting." She explained, "The loss of the war and the famine that came with it has destroyed any unity Germania once had."

"Famine? the war was well over two decades ago?"

Kirche looked to her with a faux smile. "Yeah, it's a good thing that the collation force decided to salt the earth as they advance as a means of starving out Germania and making sure that it was too busy bickering amongst itself over food to attempt another war."

Louise ignored the accusation and pressed on. "So, your emperor is attempting to marry Henrietta in order to feed his people."

A single laugh escaped the redhead, "As if Tristian could feed Germania." Glancing over to the Valliere she continued, "No, I think he believes, that having Brimiric blood and converting to the Romalian church could perhaps keep some allies in the oncoming civil war."

Louise mulled over the words, Looking back to the front of the turret she asked yet another question. "You mentioned back at the inn, that your parents wanted to teach you the value of money. They were trying to protect you."

"Yeah," She sighed. "That year's revolt got rather bad, we couldn't feed the troops properly so a lot of them turned their guns on us, and well they breached the gates and we were forced to leave for a time while father fought them back. That was when." The woman paused, looking lost in thought. "Well, never mind."

Before she could properly respond, the car suddenly bounced as it rolled over a hole, water and mud splashed up into the car, soaking the young Valliere's pants. "Tabitha!" she shrieked, raising her arms off of the wet surface.

"Didn't see it." The girl mumbled.

Kirche let out a resounding laugh as the smaller girl Grumbling and looked around for anything to help dry herself off.

Before she could find anything, an order came from outside "Halt!" the armoured car slowed to a stop as similar orders echo from every single officer in the wide march formation. Louise was frozen in fear, could it be another group of refugees seeking shelter away from, and if so, would there be another round of executions?

Audibly gulping, she sat in silence, as minutes passed. Even Kirche was silent as they waited for the news.

"Louise?" It was Wardes. Reaching to the hood, Louise began to open it, receiving protests from her gunner, that she completely ignored. Opening the hatch, both she and Kirche were soaked by a torrent of rain.

Ignoring the chilling liquid, penetrating her clothing, she popped her head out and found her fiancee on horseback beside the car. "We have a new mission." He told her reaching out to handing her a folded paper.

Reluctantly grabbing it, she momentarily marvelled at the fact that the paper seemed unaffected by the rain, unfolding it, she found it to be a map of the area. Their location was marked on the map with a large red circle and the word, 'main formation.' Around four miles to the south, was yet another red circle now surrounding at the town, this one marked with a 'Right flank.' Her mouth went dry at the prospect of what she needed to do. "What... is the mission?"

The man pointed to the right flank. "The right flank has been ambushed in that town, by partisans and are asking for support." Louise audibly gulped at the idea of fighting in a town, where peasants could be present. "Their conscripts in their company have apparently deserted in the confusion, and their artillery pieces have been destroyed but they were able to push them back to a single building that they've fortified."

She glanced at the man, "So they want us to blow them out of their hole." Louise surmised, to which Wardes nodded.

"After which they want us to join up with them at the front line."

Louise bit the inside of her cheek as she looked over the map once more. "Are we the only ones being sent?"

Wardes once again nodded, "They want to make sure that the main force isn't too weakened by this."

A wave of dread washed over the girl. "Then... then you should sit on the back of this machine, it would be faster."

"Alright." dismounting his horse, he climbed aboard, sitting on the back of the car above the engine.

Ducking back inside, she leaned over to Tabitha, passing her the map. The blue-haired Gallian silently looked it over for a moment. Without a single command, the car began to increase in speed, the girl shifting gears when needed until it reached its cruising speed

xXXXx

The drive wreaked havoc on the pink-haired girl's nerves, she trembled, as they passed by burnt-out farmhouses that had long since been abandoned and busted and broken wagons left at the side of the road. Whether good or bad, the ride was soon over.

In less than a quarter of an hour they had entered the country, the town that they had to assault was in view. It was smaller than expected with the only buildings that stood above a single story being the church on the edge of the town and a building at the center of the town that was plane. But as they drew closer, hear the sounds of battle began to reach then.

The bangs of guns and the explosions of spells rocked through the town, however, the fighting seemed rather tame with large gaps of time between bursts of fire.

"We should circle around to the north of the town," Wardes argued. Louise couldn't help but agree, the men had most likely advanced from that direction.

Ordering Tabitha, the car veered off the road and into the fields circling the town. The car bounced and the suspension was worked as it travelled over the rough terrain. While they were circling the town, Louise couldn't help but focus her gaze on the buildings as she wondered which buildings housed peasants simply trying to survive the war?

As they circled the corner to enter the town, they came to face what had befallen the troops. The officer's horse lay barely alive in the road, a deep gash on the back of the head its only sign of battle. The artillery piece lay in ruin, its mount nothing but charred and its crew lay dead only a few feet behind it, while the rest of the troops were taking cover between buildings a few blocks ahead of them.

The battle they were fighting at the moment seemed to be one of words. "I'll tell you again, the reason why these men are fighting is because of the king and how he handled the war!" Shouted an older grey-haired woman whose face told Louise that she was in her fifties or sixties, from an alcove across the street, taking shelter with several other people of the town.

"We wouldn't need to fight this way if Cromwell hadn't armed the partisans in the first place!" One of the soldiers shouted back.

Ignoring the ongoing shouting match in front of her and with battle looming Louise order Tabitha to bring the ballistic screen down. They crept down the curved road closer to the allied soldiers who seemed rather lax for the situation. The officer stood smoking his pipe, while the rest of the men, save for the ones on the corner of the house as well as the few engaging in a shouting match with the old woman, standing around with the butt of their musket resting on the ground.

"And why do you think they fight? It's because of how paranoid the king is!" The woman shouted back. "He should have realized that hanging anyone harbouring anything but praise for him would have led to extremists taking up arms."

"Yeah you would like the partisans, right now they're the only thing standing between you and a hanging!" One of the soldiers shouted back.

Louise felt confusion at the confrontation in front of her. Weren't they supposed to besieging those partisans? "Is, this normal?" She asked to no one in particular

Wardes hummed. "Seems like everyone wants to voice their opinion these days." He replied. "Wait here I'll go talk to the officer." Without another word, Wardes leapt off the back of the car and jogged over to the officer. With nothing really to do, she continued to listen to the argument taking place.

"I'll have you know I did my part against the Germanian barbarians." The woman responded. "I've even received a medal for my service."

"In what way could an old hag like you have fought?"

"I was a healer keeping our men in fighting form and saving them from infection!" She responded

"And what is a healer doing so far away from the cities?" Another soldier asked

"Fleeing the bombings and taking care of the people fleeing in the hospital I set up! The hospital currently being occupied!"

Hospital? The partisans, were inside a hospital? "Hey what are they saying, Louise?" Kirche asked from beside her, surprising the girl.

Louise, after regaining her composure could only look to her in doubt, what should she say? Should she tell her the truth that they may be firing on a hospital? Looking away from the girl. She muttered. "Nothing important." No need to give her gunner any doubts.

"All right lads! Prepare to advance. We're going to end this stalemate." The officer ordered putting his pipe away and drawing his sword wand. "Stay behind the iron wagon."

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves Louise ordered Tabitha to advance down the road.

The woman look on in horror as she watched the machine "You're planning on bringing the building down!" She shouted at the soldiers who only ignored her. "There are still patents inside! those men aren't the only ones in there!" The woman shouted as they passed her by.

"Bound and gag her, we don't need a water mage to interfere." The officer ordered.

A pair of men rushed across the street before she could produce a wand and forced her to the ground "Stop, I can get them to surrender, if yo-" Before she could finish her plee a piece of fabric gagged her.

Louise looked on, her mind racing as it processed the new information. Upon passing by the officer, he and his men fell in line behind the car, while Wardes climbed up onto the rear of the vehicle once more. "I'm guessing you've realized what we're tasked in destroying?" Wardes whispered into her ear, Louise slowly nodded. "And you have no objections?" Wardes questioned.

Louise licked her dry lips. "Mother, taught the rule of steel... I must follow the orders of my betters. So, I will do what must be done."

There was a pause, in the conversation, as they slowly made their way around the bend, picking up soldiers as they went. "You know that seems quite dogmatic," Kirche added looking over at the pair, receiving nothing but glares in return. "I'm just saying, doing everything your betters asked, you would be no better than one of Guiche's golems."

Louise let out a huff. "Just do your job." 'Please just do it.'

"I'm just saying."

The hospital came into view and with it the bodies of previous assaults on the road. Ignoring the graphic sight, she focused on the goal through the haze of the rain Louise could see its second and third-floor windows smashed out. But most imposing was a wooden barricade set up in the doorway of the building

The cannon began to raise, without the order.

A sudden poof of smoke formed on the second floor of the hospital, followed by a crack of gunfire and then followed by a clang of it hitting some part of the armoured car. Before she could even utter a word the cannon fired.

Pain shot from her ears, as she was deafened by a suffocating ringing. Slamming her eyes shut, she brought both her hands up and covered her ears. All she could hear was her breathing through her mouth.

Slightly opening one of her eyes she watched as machine-gun fire punched through the windows where the shot came from. Ducking back inside the car, she pounding the Germanian's shoulder with an open hand to get her to stop.

Closing the hatch, she grabbed an explosive round and slammed it into the breach. In her mind, there was no turning back now. Looking through her periscope she watched through the haze as several silhouettes raised at the doorway above which was a blue pentagram. The Romalian symbol of healing, thankfully something a person raised as a protestant such as Kirche wouldn't recognize

Questions came rushing back to her mind, were patients still in there? An inner voice told her that this was wrong, that she should refuse this order.

No, her mother taught her not to question orders, she needed to do this, this was what had been asked of her. "Depress the gun and fire at the doorway." She muttered still disoriented from the last shot.

The ringing returned as the shell was launched. The wood was torn apart by the explosion. Through the smoke she could see the silhouettes were seemingly in a panic, dragging something.

Grabbing another explosive round, she slammed it into the breach. Coughing, from the stench of sulphur, she ordered Tabitha to continue their advance.

"Fire again." The cannon rocked the car, sending a shell into the hospital.

Grimacing at the sight, she looked away from the periscope. They had to have been defeated. Leaning over to her gunner she ordered her to only fire if they are fired at.

The car was suddenly rocked by some unseen explosion she barely heard over the ringing in her ears.

Leaning back into the periscope she found the hospital in ruins, the entranceway was engulfed in flames, and all the windows had been shattered.

"Founder," She breathlessly muttered, staring at the mesmerizing sight.

Through the ringing, she could hear Kirche ask a simple question that had been on her mind. "What just happened?"

Pushing the hatch opened, she slowly raised her head out of the hatch to get a better view of the building, all the while wishing that she was just seeing things. That this was just her imagination that she didn't just cause such destruction.

But the truth was all around her, in the cheers of the soldiers that had no encircled the car, in the scream of the healer they had passed. in the men that were stumbling out of the building as they burned.

What.

What was she in control of?

'Founder forgive me.'

xXXXx

_**a/n**_

_**So here it is, Louise first time engaging humans with the machines of earth, may the founder help her attempt to live with what needs to be done.**_

_**Thanks for the all the support in writing this though, just wanted to say that. Let me know what you think about where im heading with the story and if you have any suggestions.**_


	18. Chapter 18: Crossing the lines

A quarter of a day later, Louise, her armoured car, and the right flank reached the main royalist camp just behind the front lines.

And much to Louise's horror it was worse than anything she had seen previously. Countless bodies lay in rows covered by cloth, countless men hung from trees from their neck hung, accusations of cowardice. Men carrying their injured comrades away from the lines on red stretchers stained by the blood of the men they supported.

It only got worse the further into the camp she got, there were at least three men in ragged and dirty uniforms that were being dragged off while tears and snot ran down their face, their pleas for mercy ignored by the men who would no doubt be their executioners.

Would she be treated the same way if she lost her composure? If she couldn't face the entrenched enemy? The thought sent a chill down her spine and forced her back inside the turret, unable to face the horrors that were right outside.

She was sick of it, this stench of death that lingered in the air, the fear and dread that plastered the people's faces and that lingered in the air.

All she wanted to do was go home be with her sisters, forget about all of this.

"It truly is horrifying."

Louise couldn't even look to the newly arrived Wales, "Why." She muttered, watching as another man, who wore another necklace of shame was dragged off in tears.

There was a brief pause, where the shuffling of fabric was followed was all that came from the prince followed by a quick mutter, of some incantation. "Discipline," Wales replied, his voice sounding as if he was holding something in his mouth.

"Discipline?" She questioned

"That's how my father justifies it." There was another pause as he let out a large exhale. "He thinks the previous desertions at the start of the war are due to a lack of it. So executions for cowardice are commonplace."

Unable to think of anything to say, she looked to the man who held a pipe in his trembling hand. A sudden agonizing scream pulled her attention to a tent that looked to be where the wounded were being treated. She watched as a man dressed in a black suit that reminded her of the images of plague doctors tossed the bottom half of a leg into a nearby bucket full of various other limbs. "How, do you deal with all of this?" She asked looking away from the scene before her.

Another pause. "At this point... I simply focus on surviving,"

Louise ignored the grim statement and returned to simple gazing around the camp as they moved through it looking for any sign of hope in the destitute army.

After several more minutes of stop and go, the prince finally said something. "Here we are."

Ordering Tabitha to stop, Louise climbed out of the turret and hopped down, unfortunately into a muddy puddle. A shiver crept up her spine as the cold liquid filled her boots.

"This is the officer's tent?" Wardes asked dismounting his horse.

Pushing past the uncomfortable feeling creeping throughout her body, she looked up to the sight of a large mud-stained tent, at the door of which were two guards. The prince let out a tired sigh. "Yes, I apologize for its state, but the constant bombardment from the air forces us to continuously take down and set up and as such, it can get rather dirty."

The griffin knight scratched his chin. "Well then, let's not keep them waiting."

"Wait." Kirche started as both she and Tabitha descended from the car. "What are we supposed to do while you go discuss the best way to fling us at the enemy?"

Prince Wales only shrugged. "You could always explore the camp, we shouldn't be longer than half an hour."

The Germanian looked like she wanted to retort, but let out a simple grumble. "Great, you know when I left Germania my dream was to watch a surgeon perform an amputation, although the allure of watching an execution has me questioning what I might do. So many options to choose from." She remarked hopping down into the mud.

"If you want something to do, go find some mugs for the three of you, supper is going to be served early," Wales said with a sigh.

With a crossing of her arms and a sigh on her lips, she muttered. "Fine, guess I'm an errand girl now." Turning to her right, she continued. "Come on Tabby, le-" Only to find the blue-haired had vanished. "Tabitha?" She asked frantically looking around.

Louise herself was in awe, where had she gone? Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the young Gallian's staff was missing

"Tabitha!" She shouted hands at either side of her mouth. "This isn't funny! abandoning your friend who doesn't know a word of Albionese in the middle of one of their camps would be grounds for a feud!"

A hand pressed down on Louise's shoulder. "Perhaps it would be best if we leave her be," Wales said. With pursed lips, she turned and followed the pair into the tent.

xXXXx

It wasn't long before Kirche realized she had been left alone. Letting out an annoyed huff she mumbled to the ground. "I really know who my friends are." 'Guess I better start looking for those mugs.' Glancing around at her surroundings, she found a tarp porched up on wooden spikes with several tables beneath it.

With it being the best option, she stomped down the road, past men with nothing better to do than talk, by conscripts who all looked about as horrified as a peasant stumbling upon an orcs den unarmed.

Stepping out of the rain, she wiped the liquid from her brow and sauntered through the labyrinth of tables haphazardly placed around the area, over to a counter where a brown-haired woman dressed in brown clothing was bent over a massive pot behind it.

With a silent prayer, she attempted to get her attention. "You wouldn't happen to speak Gallian would you?"

The woman glanced over her shoulder. Letting out a sigh, she stood up and patted down her apron. "As a matta of fact, aye do." The woman replied in a thick accent while she turned to face her. Kirche found herself surprised by her age, she wasn't old as the rest of the people here if she had to guess, she was young if she had to guess between eighteen and twenty.

A sigh of relief escaped the redhead. "Thank the fou-"

"Ya not getting dinner early." The woman stated

"What no, I was just looking for some mugs," Kirche explained.

The woman looked to her left and right before leaning in. Biting the inside of her cheek Kirche did the same knowing full well that this wasn't going to be simple. "Ya need mugs?" She whispered.

Kirche paused for a moment before giving the girl a slight nod.

The young woman licked her lips before leaning closer. "How many ya need?"

"Three."

A conniving smile crossed the girl's face. "A hundred twenty Ecu's"

Kirche flew back at the boldness, "A hundred and twenty what!"

"Ya heard me." The woman repeated crossing her arms.

The Germanian blinked while her mind attempted to process what she had just said. "What reason do you have to suspect I'm carrying that much money on me!?"

"Your hair, the fact that I can see a wand sticking out of your waist. You're a noble so you ought to have that money on ya."

The girl let out a chuckle. "Yeah, not all nobles are rich."

The woman waved that explanation away. "I've seen how nobles live, even the poor ones live in luxury compared to the peasantry."

"And why do you think anyone would pay that much for a mug?"

"It's my policy, no mug no soup."

"Tch." Kirche glanced over her shoulder and found a group of five men watching the argument, from a table near the center of the room. "Yeah, I don't need your mugs." She stated, undoing the top two buttons of her jacket exposing her cleavage.

The young woman only smiled

Putting on a sly smile, she walked over to the men while exaggerating the sway of her hips. Standing at the end of the table, she leaned over allowing each and every man at the table a view down her shirt. "Would any of you be willing to part with your mugs?" She asked.

The men only glanced at her for a moment before returning to their conversation. A pang of annoyance was easily dealt with as she went on the offensive. Sitting on the table, "Perhaps you didn't understand me. But would you be willing to spare a mug?" She asked.

The man closest to her looked to her in a controlled fury, shouting something she couldn't comprehend.

The woman shouted something from the counter that further enraged the men. Before she could react, she was suddenly pushed off the table by one of the men, unable to react in time she fell on her back, soaking her hair and back with muddy water.

Sitting up in a fury. Kirche began shouting at the men in front of them using every swear in the Germanian language, from her spot on the floor. The men cared little for her, standing up and leaving the tent.

Her breathing heavy, she shot a glare to the woman at the counter who was leaning over the counter, head resting on a hand with an amused look on her face. "What did you tell them!" Kirche shouted.

"I simply told them the truth." She started pushing herself to her full height. "That you wanted to steal their food."

Spitting out the taste of dirt, she stood up and patted herself off. "What is with everyone on this island trying to rob me?" She asked herself.

"Probably because ya fall for it." The girl quipped

"And why on earth are simple mugs so expensive!" Kirche shouted ignoring her.

The cook shrugged. "They're made of metal. And any metal that isn't needed is being melted down into this new kind of musket balls."

"Well I'm out of money, I spent it all on this attire." She explained, too which the girl laughed.

"Really? Ya spent all ya money on that?" The girl's laughter only grew louder.

Kirche couldn't help but feel like challenging this peasant to a duel if only to silence her. "Look, unlike you, I didn't know I was going to be here, so all I had was my academy uniform." The cook suddenly went silent.

"What did ya say?" The brunette asked.

Kirche eyed the girl suspiciously. "All I had was my uniform."

The woman rushed over to her. "Do you have it with you?"

Eyeing the girl she gave her a nod. "It's under what I'm wearing now."

"Can you let me see it?"

"Why?"

"Do you want those mugs or what?"

This wasn't the first time Kirche had been asked to strip but now it felt embarrassing, perhaps because she wasn't the one in control, not the one initiating it. Now it was the cook who was in control. Pursing her lips and Beginning to unbutton her shirt. The young woman eyed her with a keen interest until her uniform was uncovered.

"Pure White." The brunette muttered to herself. "I'll trade you the three mugs for your uniform."

Louise looked at the girl flabbergasted. "What?" She muttered.

"You want to eat right?"

Kirche couldn't argue with that. "Do you have someplace I can change?"

The girl said nothing as she grabbed her by the hand and dragged her off to a tent set up behind the kitchen where, after given privacy, Kirche stripped-down, tossed her uniform onto the hay bed before redressing in the peasant attire.

Exiting the tent, she found the cook, the three mugs hanging from their handles in an open hand. With a shifting gaze, Kirche grabbed the mugs. "The uniform is on your bed."

The girl gave her a pleasant smile. "Pleasure doing business with ya."

Kirche only grumbled. Stomping over to the kitchen. Why was it always her that had to do everything for those other two? Why couldn't it be Louise that had to sacrifice her dignity to get food? Why not Tabitha, what was she even doing?

Marching over to a table, she sat down and slammed the metal mugs on the table. 'Seriously Both Valliere and Tabitha should be thankful that I'm willing to put myself and my money pouch on the line for this mission. "Thank you for being so willing to sacrifice your dignity to help me Kirche I'm sorry for all the nasty things I called you back at the academy." Louise will say.'

Closing her eyes she rested her head on a closed fist propped up by an arm on the table to compose herself. 'I do wonder when supper will be served.'

A sudden clang of metal, caused the girl to open her eyes. Newly placed upon the table was another three mugs along with two pistols and holsters to go with them. Glancing up she found a soaked Tabitha dressed in a royalist uniform with a single hole in the gut.

She looked to the mugs and the pistols and back to the girl. Her jaw grew progressively heavier and more a gap as her shifting gaze grew faster until it fell upon the table.

Clenching a hand into a fist. Kirche proceeded to pound the table. "I'm going to fucking kill someone!" She mumbled through barred teeth in her native language.

xXXXx

Within the officer's tent, Louise stood silent at the end of the table trembling in fear of what was to come, before her was a map of Albion, on which was the path they would have to take to reach Newcastle. All around her stood men, larger than her, both in confidence and in stature.

They all spoke but Louise couldn't focus. Her mind was too fixed on the words that were uttered at the beginning of the meeting.

"Spearhead towards their artillery pieces."

"Advance covered by poison gas."

"Offensive all along the lines to ensure no swift counter-attack."

All of this left one question in her mind. How many men were to die so they could slip behind the enemy lines and reach the king.

But what happened if they got stuck, could the car withstand a cannonball? Horrific images flashed within her mind. Tabitha crushed in her seat by a cannonball that hit the car head-on. Kirche knocked to the floor, unconscious, and herself. Attempting to clamber out of the vehicle into the sights of an entire rebel army, their guns aimed and focused on her.

"Louise?"

Blinking, Wales looked to her concern on his face. "Can you punch through their line."

Clenching a fist in an attempt to calm herself, she slowly nodded.

"Then that settles this matter. We'll commence the assault in the next half hour and make sure that the men partaking in it get food no matter if they've already received their daily ration."

The prince received several versions of agreement from the simple yes, to full-on salutes, before like cows being corralled towards a slaughter. Until she was alone with Wales. Time crept by and not a single word was uttered until Wales finally broke the silence.

"I know what it's like to have everyone look to you as if you have the solution to all their problems..." there was a brief pause as the prince seemed to attempt to find his words. "There's nothing I can say that would take that weight off your shoulders. One of his hands crept into her view placing a cylinder of paper wrapping in front of her.

Reaching out, she picked up and unwrapped the item, finding several small grey pills of varying shapes. "What is it?"

"It's a courage pill." The man said his voice tinged with joy she hadn't heard since her arrival. "If I'm being truthful it's a Germanian pill that heightens aggression alertness, and can allow a soldier to march days without tiring. At least that's what the soldiers believe."

Letting a pill fall out into her hand, she rolled it around her gloved hand, eyeing the grain-like texture that covered its surface. "Does it work?'

"It helps me focus, when I have doubts." Wales said, "Perhaps it can help you complete this quest." Without another word he left the girl alone in the tent

Louise eyed the unremarkable pill in her hand. She had never taken medicine in such a way before, it had always been a liquid, but she had occasionally spotted her mother taking such medication.

Believing the info that her friend had given her, she brought the open palm to her mouth, and with a tilt of her head, took the pill that she had been given, swallowing it and sticking the rest into one of her belts pouches.

xXXXx

Louise had changed. This was something that Kirche had noticed as soon as dinner had concluded. She no longer carried herself as a scared child, she had regained that confidence she always had at the academy, that unyielding vigour that had caught her attention when she had first arrived at the academy.

She had been relieved to see the smaller girl in higher spirits, this had no doubt been her first time in combat against fellow humans.

But something was off, it was only something she noticed when they were in the final preparations for the assault, positioned at the top of a hill that overlooked the muddied haze filled valley between both sides' lines. Bodies could be seen dotting the landscape and yet, Louise didn't look scared, she simply watched the soldiers while drinking her soup, but there was something underneath that mask that she had noticed in the tapping of her foot the sweat forming on her face. She was anxious but she looked like she was aching for a fight.

It was a mixture of anxious fury that Kirche had only seen in her father when dealing with peasant revolts.

"Louise?"

The calls of her name pulled the girl's attention "What?"

"Are you ok?" Kirche questioned, her voice carrying with it the same emotion that adorned her face.

"What kind of question is that." Louise spat.

"The one I ask when in the hour since we left you, you've gone from scared and unconfident to looking like you want to punch Cromwell himself in the throat."

***Tch*** Louise turned away from the girl to focus on the battle that was brewing. "Well perhaps that's what he needs to stop spreading his venomous ideas of peasant governments." her words were punctuated by the firing on cannons that kicked up dirt as they impacted the area near the enemy trench.

"Look, it's just that you haven't been acting like yours-"

"Your concern has been noted Kirche." She stated. "But I would suggest you focus on doing your job." Before the fire mage could retort, Louise cut her off. "Looks like its starting." With a bang of the turret, she ordered Tabitha to begin the descent down the hill.

The armoured car slowly made its way down the hill towards the trenches from which came a sickly yellow gas that wind mages were blowing into the valley towards the enemy trenches. In the distance through the haze of rain, she could see the faint outline of heads popping out of the enemy trench before ducking back down.

Letting out a sigh the gunner ducked inside the turret and looked through the spyglass that acted aimed the gun which gave her clearer picture of the terrified men that darted around the trench no doubt unsure of what to do with.

The car slowed to a halt while a clank to her right informed her of what was being asked of her. "Rattle their skulls."

Breathing heavy, she spun the elevation control, until the sight lined up with the back of the trench and with a squeeze of the trigger, the cannon fired. Sending the shell into the trench, detonating on impact. Another round was slammed into the breach, but before she could fire again, the gas finally reached the trench, flowing in and obscuring her view.

Upon reaching the allied trench a bridge was formed by some unseen earth mage allowing the vehicles continued advanced which was followed by the sound of a signal whistle. All around them men climbed out of the trench and begun a slow advance towards the enemy trenches with the wind mages that had initially unleashed the gas providing protection from the toxin.

The difference between the road and the land between trenches

The air in the turret grew thick as the young pinkettes anxiousness seemed to have become contagious. In the distance beyond the walls of gas, guns could be heard as the battle raged on, the roar of cannons and the screams of men filled their ears.

Through the narrow slits in the armour, Kirche watched the infantry as they marched through the uneven ground, their muskets and rifles pointed forward towards the enemy trench, bayonet at the ready, followed by the wind mages keeping the poisonous cloud from straying too close.

It was strange, their advance was going practically unchallenged. Perhaps due to this machine but for an army that was in such a state, this sort of unopposed advance seemed improbable.

As if the god of fate had heard her inner thoughts, the car slowed to a halt. The machine roared yet they didn't move. "Tabitha!" Louise shouted.

"Stuck in mud." The blue-haired girl replied in the same dull tone as always.

Their commander obviously irritated by the halt in the advance. Popped out of the turret and shouted at the men behind them to help them get moving again.

The few mage officers that accompanied the charge rallied behind the car, working together the wind mages lifted the vehicle while the earth mage engineer created stable land underneath it.

Something felt off to Kirche, they were stuck between the lines yet there had been no retaliation in this area. The gas should have tipped the enemy off as to the importance of this area yet there was nothing? Not a single cannon shot in their direction, no musket fire from the rear trench. What was going on?

Within less than twenty seconds they were back on the move the enemy trench drawing closer and closer.

"Once we cross the trench, I need you to really push down the gas pedal. We need to take the hill as fast as possible!" Louise shouted.

"Got it." The girl muttered in response.

Arriving at the trench, the wind mages blew the gas away revealing dozens of bodies within the trench, all of which had their hands near their throat, no doubt dying as they begged for air.

"Gas." She muttered to herself. It was something that she had only heard of in the stories she occasionally listened about from the old soldiers that occasionally visited her family's manor, just the thought of toxic air sent chills down her spine.

Another bridge formed, and crossed. Louise let the other officers know of her intentions before banging on the roof. The car sped up, crossing the trench and reaching a road that rounded the hill which they followed finding it, thankfully, clear.

Sweat began to form on the gunner's hands and grip on the handles tightened while the car continued to barrel down the road towards the enemy camp where a fight was sure to take place.

But no fighting came.

Reaching the rebels camps confirmed what she had been suspecting. It looked like it had been abandoned in a rush. Cannons lay destroyed, tents lay in heaps of fabric obviously hastily disassembled and the wounded, dead and mangled lay alone where they were when the order came in.

"Tabitha, park the car and follow me." Louise ordered. Climbing out of the roof and dropping down into the mud. "Kirche, keep an eye out in case this is just a trap."

Keeping her head on a swivel, she watched as the pink-haired girl pulled out a strange-looking pistol as she was joined by her Gallian friend, who grabbed her staff before heading off into the camp.

Unable to do anything, Kirche simply sat inside to the turret, waiting for all of this to come to an end. What would they do when they got back to Tristian, she wondered, they would have missed a rather large number of classes so for obvious reasons the first week back would be torture, but so long as her parents didn't find out about this little stu-***BANG***

Shaken back to reality by the crack of a gun, she looked around for the source. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the pair emerging from behind a bush, a disgruntled look on Louise's face.

"What happened?" Kirche asked as the pair neared the machine.

Louise said nothing letting Tabitha enter the car first. "Dog," Tabitha muttered as she passed by the fire mage.

"Must have been attracted by the food," Louise muttered, holstering her pistol. "But it seems Reconquista has abandoned this position," She stated.

"wh-"

"If I knew Kirche I would tell you!"

Taken aback by the aggressiveness, Kirche could only reply with the most obvious of questions. "What's gotten into you?"

The young Valliere looked to her as if what she had just asked was sacrilege. "What's gotten into me? I'm sorry but do you not understand the stakes were facing here!?"

"No I don't all I've been told is that we need to get to Newcastle and that we need to meet with the royal family, but I've never been told what will happen if we don't make it."

"So, they've abandoned their position." The voice of Wardes pulled the two feuding girl's attention to the Tristianian captain who was accompanied by a brown-haired old officer that neither of them recognized. However, the thing that caught their attention was the strange uniforms they were wearing, ridding themselves of the red and replacing it with a light blue uniform with gold trim. "Good." The man muttered

"What's with the uniform." Louise's voice trailed off as the confusion hit her. "Is this the next step of the plan?"

The girl's fiancee nodded "We're disguising ourselves as Reconquistan soldiers." Wardes replied. "The royalists aren't in any shape to launch an offensive, it would be a pointless waste of life."

"But what about Wales, he is too well known to simply dawn a uniform."

The officer chuckled. "I don't need you to worry about me." The officer replied in Wales's voice further confusing the group. Raising a hand, he removed a ring, instantly the air around him grew hazy, as his hair and face changed back to the prince that Louise knew. The man chuckled once again at the sight of the armoured group's faces. "Elven magic sure is interesting." He replied with a smile and raising the ring up.

"What?" Kirche mumbled.

"Either way it's going to be dark soon and we still have fifty miles to travel," Wales stated ignoring the question. "But we need one more aspect to complete the look." Dismounting his horse, walking over and climbing atop the rear deck of the machine. Opening a satchel at his side, he unfolded it revealing a strange flag that Kirche had never seen before attaching it to the top of the bendy metal pole that stuck out of the rear of the machine.

"Then we best get going," Wardes started climbing aboard the rear deck and taking a place beside the prince.

With nothing left to say, Louise climbed aboard and ordered Tabitha to advance. After several minutes of silence, Louise asked the question they had all been thinking. "Where did you get that ring."

The disguised prince raised a gloved hand to look at it. "It's a trophy my family acquired in the last crusade." with the question answered silence soon returned to the group of five the gunner, however, had something on her mind, this had been such an easy victory. Could this be replicated in Newcastle? Kirche wondered.

xXXXx

_**A/N**_

_**So i know this chapter has taken long and so i do hope that you guys accept the longer chapter length as an apology. I do hope you don't mind that i've taken a step away from armoured combat and the whole Armoured commander.**_

_**Either way i hoped you enjoyed this chapter and i hope you have a good day.**_


	19. Chapter 19: Newcastle part 1

**I am truly sorry for the delay I hope that next chapter won't take as much time**

**xXXXx**

***Slam* **"Not accepting!" Montmorency banged on the desk "Why can't you!?"

The old glasses waring man was taken aback the rage, raised his hands in defense. "I don't know what to tell you. We've haven't been able to handle any patents since the beginning of the Albionese civil war."

"What does some peasant revolt have to do my patent getting accepted!" She leaned in a little closer as her voice grew louder.

"The Gallian Convention for the Protection of Ideas which came into effect just after the defeat of Germania, outlines that all parties involved that being Albion Gallia and Tristian would share a common patent system thus allowing inventers to sell their products in those nations without fear of someone copying them." The man explained, much to the dismay of the water mage.

Crossing her arms, "So I'm just supposed to halt my research while I wait for this war to end?"

"Yes." The man spat. "Now get out of my office."

Gritting her teeth, Montmorency, turned and began to leave the office, stopping as she reached the door. "I hope you know that you just lost a customer."

A single chuckle left the man's mouth. "I wish you luck finding another person to handle this patent request considering I'm the only licensed notary in the country."

***Tch* **Gritting her teeth, she threw the door open a stepped out into the loud, busy post office slamming behind her with as much force as she could muster.

Why did it all have to come crumbling down at this moment.

Bringing an open palm to her forehead she attempted to massage the start of a migraine away. What was she to do now?

"How did it go."

"Just perfect." She sarcastically remarked. Looking over her shoulder to her fiancee, she took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, let's just find a place to rest, I'm too tired to think and I need to figure out what happens next." Although.

Her gaze drifted to the near empty coin pouch and then to the bag on her back that held a rather expensive bottle of wine, why did she think it would be so easy.

"Well I have some news." Guiche started holding up a letter.

"Good or bad?"

"My uncle stated that he is unable to help us at this moment as he is currently aiding a man in his search for oil on the Germanian border."

"Doubt they'll find anything, that already hasn't already been discovered." She dismissed with a huff.

"He did however point us to a steel mill near the border of the grand duchy of Guldenhorf. Apparently, the owner of the mill owes my uncle a favor."

The blonde girl let out a chuckle, "So I guess it is a three-day trip to some steel mill in some back-water town on the edge of possible the most self-centered and zealous families in all of Tristian!"

Guiche let out a sigh. "I don't know what you want me to say, but it's your best bet. But on the bright side from what one of the workers here has told me, there has been roving bands of orcs in the Ardennes region, perhaps it's time to test your inventions on live targets?"

With a purse of her lips, Montmorency mulled over, as she did her stern look began to relax. 'If we killed the orcs with my invention this would give weight to the possibilities of the powder.' A small smile began to form. 'Not only that but it would most certainly give us a consumer once my powder goes into full production.'

Without a second thought she marched over and threw open the door to the outside world, "Come on Guiche, we must head back to the academy to gather our things."

xXXXx

The sight of her breath, the chill in the air, the crunch of snow breath her boots, the howl of wind between the trees.

Winter had arrived.

It was a time she liked, the time after the first snowfall, but before the temperature turned dreadfully cold.

As she walked through the woods under the light of the moons, she was reminded of the few times she had spent with her father. It was strange looking back on it, how he was so afraid of the roads he insisted on walking everywhere.

Compared to how the nobles of other nations lived, they could have easily confused with rich peasants.

Only this time, she was alone, enjoying the solitude that came with it.

If she was honest with herself, it had just gotten too hectic at home; the manor had been turned into a fortress, soldiers manning every room, every hall, and every entrance. Even sneaking away was an issue in and of itself with cannons and sentries placed along the external walls.

However, upon "borrowing" a uniform of one of the men from the wash, she was allowed out without so much as a warning.

Rubbing her hands to keep warm, she continued through the woods towards the closest town. Or she should have been, but time flowed by, and nothing changed. It seemed as if the forest was never going to end; however, after several more minutes of pointless, a new sound could be heard faintly over her own voice.

It was a constant shriek of the damned that sent a chill down her spine that only grew louder as time passed her by.

Blood running cold, she turned and ran through the woods as fast as her legs could carry her.

Yet it did nothing, no matter how fast she ran, no matter how hard she tried to block it, the shrieking only grew louder and louder until it was the only thing in the world she could here.

"Stop it!" She cried. "Stop I-" Her foot catching something hidden beneath the snow; she tumbled forward. Pain coursed through her body originating from the same ankle she had just tripped over, making it apparent that she must have twisted, if not broken it.

Suddenly remembering what she had been running from, she began to crawl as best she could with a lame foot.

Each hand gripped a handful of snow pulling as best she good until she came to two boots that stood in her way.

Fear gripping her, she followed the legs up until she came to the face she instantly recognized. "Louise?" She questioned.

"Don't Louise me, it's time to get up Kirche, we've arrived."

Slowly coming out of the land of the dreams, Kirche let out a yawn, attempting to stretch only for her hands to meet the cold metal of the turret.

In a sudden recoil, the fire mage began to shiver. "F-F-Founder, where are w-w-we?" She sputtered only now noticing that she could see her breath

Louise, unamused by the reaction, grabbed the hatch's handle and, with a quick pull, opened the top of the armoured car. Almost immediately, snow slowly descended into the tank illuminated by the duel moons peaking in through a hole in the clouds.

Raising a hand, she caught the small white snowflake. "S-S-Snow?" She muttered through chattering teeth. Standing up, her eyes grew even wider as she took in her surroundings. "F-F-Founder." It was as if she had been transported to the far east of Germania.

All the land she could see atop this hill was covered in snow and by the looks of it a thick layer of the white powder.

"To answer your question were just outside of Newcastle," Louise said, standing up and pointing behind her.

Turning around, Kirche found her staring at a city many parts of alight by fire, no doubt by the dragons that circled around the city.

Further away were the ships. Dozens of them all sat in wait for an opportunity to crush the final garrison of royalists.

As her gaze fell to the shores of the river, that separated the island of royalists from their aggressors. She felt her breath pulled away by the sight of a mass of tents that looked as though it could house a small city of soldiers.

As she scanned the camp, the true scale of this siege hit her. Dragons could be seen being fed, an endless stream of wagon trains and? "L-L-Louise are those... m-m-mages?" She asked, pointing to a glowing ball of blue on the other bank of the river.

"It's what Wardes thinks... And that would explain the snow."

That only confused the Germanian more. "A-a-a-are they trying to f-f-freeze the river?"

"Seems so."

"A-a-and why are you so c-c-calm!?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Louise calmly questioned. "That army is comprised of nothing but commoners. If they believe themselves strong enough to face a Valliere, then they may try."

"Pervitin," Tabitha muttered from her place.

"W-W-What?"

"A small lozenge that lessens one's response to fear increases aggression."

"I k-k-know what it is, but why is L-L-Louise on it? How did she even get it?"

Louise looked to the redhead with a scowl. "Does it matter how I got it, it opened my eyes. I'm not scared anymore, and I can carry out my duty."

Clenching her jaw, Kirche relented, she had seen more than her fair share of officers under her father's employ who abused that substance when it came to dealing with rowdy peasants. And more often than not, it ended poorly, but to think even Louise would be on it.

"W-W-Well, then if you're so capable, how are we s-s-supposed to get past the army and the r-r-river that blocks our path."

The pink-haired girl sat in silence, a look of annoyance growing more and more intense as she seemingly thought on the idea. She began tapping her foot and bit her lip. "Wardes is working on it."

"Y-Y-You don't know, do you?"

"look, he said he was going to find a way through, and he will so just shut it."

Gritting her teeth, Kirche relented, going back to watching the camp.

It wasn't long after silence had taken root that Wardes and the prince returned carrying three thick uniforms of varying sizes.

Wardes was the first to speak. "I do hope you had a restful nap, miss Zerbst, the next few hours are going to require all the energy we can muster."

The realization slowly dawned on her. "W-W-We're... walking t-t-t-through that?"

"We don't have many other options, and from what we've been able to see, the camp is rather lax, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem," Wales explained as he and Wardes tossed the uniforms up onto the turret of the car.

The two girls eyed each other.

Placing a hand on one of the uniforms, Louise smiled smugly, saying. "I guess you should get out Kirche as there isn't enough room for both of us to change."

Clenching her jaw, Kirche mumbled a German curse and climbed out of the turret as Louise slammed it shut. "Tabitha." silenced returned for a moment before the door at the bottom of the car swung open. Tabitha Crawled out on her hands, grabbing her staff and uniform before the pair walked out into the woods.

As they walked further and further away from the rest of their party, it reminded Kirche of last winter when she went back to Germania to check up on her family and see the new noble from some far east province that was looking to wed her.

Just when she was about to leave, Tabitha showed up and thrusted a suitcase into the carriage that she was taking back home and announced that she was coming with her.

It was apparent that she was concerned for her, but for her to join her without so much as announcing it a day beforehand? Did she not have any duties of her own to fulfill, and why was she so keen to protect her.

"Out of sight." The monotone girl mumbled. Bringing Kirche's focus back to the present.

Without another word, the smaller girl tapped the ground. The snow in the area around them was blown away, letting the Germanian see the grass once again.

Not a second later Tabitha, began to undress, sending the taller girl's mind spinning. 'How isn't she affected by the cold?'

Maybe it has something to do with her specialty being ice magic.

Walking over to a tree, she pulled out a wand. With a single incantation, several sticks were torn from the tree, forming a neat pile by her feet. "Ignus," the pile of timber suddenly burst into flames.

As warmth began to travel up her body, the shivering stopped.

With the warmth from the fire, she quickly changed into the Reconquistan uniform, embracing the warmth that came with the long coat the covered nearly every inch of her body.

With the pair now in disguise, they headed back to the group finding the car on fire, and the rest of her party were now looking over these strange poles with diamond shape heads on the end of it.

"What's going on?" Kirche questioned, walking over to the group as she looked around.

"We've denied the enemy our equipment, but as of right now, we're trying to figure out this weapon." Wardes shrugged, tapping the box at his feet with his boot. "Louise called it a _panzerfaust,_ but I'm not sure where she got that name."

Handed one by the knight captain, Kirche began to look it over, feeling its weight in her hands. "How are we supposed to use it."

With a smile, Wardes reached down and plucked a small leaflet from the box handing it to her. "It's a good thing we have a Germanian,"

Kirche sat in shock for a moment; it was clear from the moment she had taken the paper that it was instructions of some kind but the fact they were in German? Was this made in her homeland? She didn't know of any places that produced a weapon like this.

That idea quickly evaporated as she scanned more of the paper. The way it was written, it was as if her nation was at war, not only that, but it implied that tanks were common.

Backblast.

Reward for return.

Hollow charge.

"Where did you find this?" Kirche asked.

"I picked it up from a trader in Germania who deals in these sorts of things," Wardes explained.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she read the instructions out loud for everyone to hear.

"So, I was right," Louise yelled from the back visibly frustrated.

"Seems you were, Louise," Wardes replied with the same calm smile. "Now," He started grabbing everyone's attention with this sudden shift in demeanour "Were going to be walking through an enemy camp so I want to make it clear what you will answer if were questioned. First of all, we were transferred from the Earl of Essex's army to assist with the siege of Newcastle. If they ask about the weapons, say we found them while foraging. It should be made clear that until we're through the camp, you are to no engage with no one. I don't want to hear a single word from any of you."

After several moments of silence, the warm-hearted smile returned to his face. "Then let's go."

xXXXx

To say that Amethyst was concerned would be an understatement. Ever since she had joined Karina, all the jobs that she had given her had always been extremely well thought out with planning sometimes going on for a month before she or her sister went out to accomplished said goal.

But today.

Today was different.

Not six hours ago, the duke's familiar showed up making informing her that Karina was going to show up and to gather the appropriate equipment so that she could infiltrate the city and that she needed it within the next eight hours.

It was a far cry to her current mission, which was just to observe the war, what was the cause for the sudden change in tactics.

"Do you have it."

Startled by the voice, Amethyst nearly jumped out of her skin. "Karina. You shouldn't sneak up on me."

As the Duchess walked into the moonlight, Amethyst was able to realize at what speed she rushed here as she hadn't even taken off the water-filled pouches tied to the bottom of her legs.

"Forgive me; I thought vampires were masters of their domain." Karina jabbed

"We are, but you just caught, me in thought," Amethyst replied

"About the sudden shift in plans?"

Amethyst took a moment to process her situation before replying. "Yes. So I need to ask why the sudden change?"

Karina paused for a moment. "Did you get what I need?"

"You're dodging the question."

Karina turned to face the town. "Louise is in Newcastle."

Amethyst blinked, waiting for her friend to mutter something about it being a joke, but it never came. "Oh, gods above, that girl is always getting into trouble, isn't she," letting out a sigh, Amethyst reached to a bag she had leaned up against a tree and grabbed it. "Well, I guess its good I got you into the airborne infantry."

Karina looked to her that told the vampire to continue.

"They're planning on having dragons drop off elite infantry into the city to capture the main anti-dragon batteries, and various other choke points ahead of the main assault. So, you'll be first into the city."

"So, they're using the tactics I developed fighting Germania?"

A soft smile formed on the vampire's face. "That seems to be the case; the only difference is that the makeup of the squads is almost uniformly commoners compared to mages."

"They're sending commoners behind the lines?"

"Yep." The vampire handed her the bag. "In fact, you yourself are a commoner, Miss Grey." Karina ignoring the vampire, began to fish out items from the bag. "Your husband was killed in the line of duty, so you yourself joined to avenge your husband, and now you stand ready to fight the last ba-"

"What is this?" Karina asked, holding up the strange gun that the vampire had stole, which had a crude shoddy look to it.

"They call it a sten. It's a strange repeating musket that most of the airborne troops use." The vampire explained.

"They're using artifacts then." Karina hummed. Dropping the bag to the ground, she raised it to her shoulder and taking aim and scanning the environment.

"You seem like you already know what you're doing," Amethyst asked.

"It's not the first time I've come across a weapon like this." Lowering the weapon, she placed it next to her, fishing out the next item. An odd-looking pistol that favoured straight angles over the curved grip that most pistols had. "What do they call this one?" Karina asked as she looked it over.

"They call that a colt." Without warning, the ammo box fell out the bottom of the gun, thankfully caught by some unseen wind magic just before it could hit the ground.

The box floated up to Karina's face giving her a good look at how it worked. "So it uses brass cartridges and a spring system to feed it."

"Right. I should show you how they use them." Amethyst said cutting the Duchess off

Quickly going over how she had seen them used. Karina quickly got the hang of how they worked, and soon after, she changed into the Reconquista uniform and strapping on the holster and tightening the sling that the repeating rifle was tied to until it rested comfortably at her side.

"Did you take into consideration my hair?"

The vampire smiled and tossed her a helmet cap, which the Duchess caught with ease and without question began putting it on. "It might be a tight fit, but I'm sure it will work."

With a final pull of the strap, the cap was secured, and her eye-catching pink hair was safely hidden. "Is there anything else I need?"

The smile on the vampire's face faltered. Reaching to another piece of kit she had yet to give her, she walked over to the Duchess and placed atop her head the metal helmet that resembled a kettle hat. "Do you want me to shadow you?" Amethyst asked as she pulled the helmet's strap tight.

"No, I want you to go to Manchester, and figure out if they're producing these guns or they're pulling them from the various stockpiles."

Stepping back, Amethyst took one last look at her friend. "Stay safe, Karina.

"You too, Amethyst."

Without another word, the pair parted, each of them facing a daunting task in front of them.

**xXXXx**

**Again i am truly sorry about the delay and I'm sorry that this chapter isn't that long but i hope that my motivation continues and i can hammer out the next chapter in the next week or so.**

**Please let me know what you think, and i do hope that you all stay safe and healthy in these trying times**


	20. Chapter 20 Newcastle part 2

Entering the camp was by far the easiest thing they had done while on Albion. There were no checkpoints, no guards, and no perimeter.

The group made their way through the cramped camp walking through narrow muddy roads between tents with varying amounts of men.

The camp was split up into blocks, consisting of four tents back to back. A gap sat between the blocks that most the time was filled by groups of soldiers, cooking, laughing and drinking, around a fire.

No matter which block it was, several things were universal, nearly all the men had food and guns.

Most of them were relaxing. Some were playing games involving the use of a ball, some were playing cards. But thankfully, few took an interest in them, and the few that did were mostly fixated on the panzer Faust strapped to the backs of both her Kirche and Tabitha.

It was so different compared to the royalist camp.

But to Louise, it was a sick and disgusting display of disloyalty. This feeling of revolt only grew with every step deeper into the camp they took, how could these men be so joyous when they were revolting against their ruler who had the divine right to Albion.

Her hands clenched into fists as she scanned her environment *Tch* Louise gritted her teeth. Her knuckles turned white as she clenched as hard as she could.

"Easy." she could hear Wardes whispered. "We're almost there."

Looking forward, Louise found herself staring at a ruined tower bridge. Its towers showed signs of damage with holes blasted into the walls. The bridge no longer stood, having no doubt been collapsed to impede the progress of the rebels.

"Move to the side of the road!" looking over her shoulder, she nearly jumped out of herself at the sight of two massive oxen mere inches away from her face guided by an unamused man at their side.

Following the man's orders, the group moved over to the side of the road allowing the oxen, who were pulling a massive cannon that she had never seen before; it had a smaller diameter than the ones fielded at her family's castle only it was far longer.

It reminded her of her own tanks cannon. But how did they get it?

Pursing her lips, she pushed that line of questions back down; she would have to speak with Wales after this.

The oxen sped on, followed by nearly two dozen men in stopping once they had reached a clearing a few hundred feet ahead of them.

"Alright, lads we have a half hour, so we best work quick!" The guide shouted, prompting the group to spring into action.

Part of the group ran to the front of the gun and grabbed hold of a rope that dangled from the barrel, while the rest ran to its rear. Working as one, lifted together, causing the gun to tilt forward, allowing the group to pull and push it away from the oxen and into position.

"We need to move," Wales whispered to the group.

The group continued through at a quicker pace than before, it was clear that the assault was going to commence in half an hour so they needed to get in and out hopefully before the attack can begin.

The group soon reached the bridge. Rounded the massive support, they found a soldier in a dishevelled uniform leaning forward using a raised arm to brace himself against the wall while he took a piss clearly drunk and unaware of their presence.

Growing flush at such unsightly conduct. Louise stepped forward to berate the man, only to be held back by a hand belonging to her fiancé. "You soldier, get back to your camp this instant, that is an order." Wardes voice was firm and filled with foe anger.

The drunk looks to them with unfocused eyes and mumbled something about "fookin officers." before stumbling off.

With a huff, Louise gazed back to the river, marvelling just how long this bridge was, as the river looked to have been at least half a mile long far longer than anything in back in Tristian.

"There is a cave that leads to a hidden entrance around a hundred yards from the shoreline," Wales explained.

"Wait, we're swimming!" Kirche exclaimed.

"Is that a problem?" the disguised prince asked?

Kirche visibly uncertain attempted to explain why she was so hesitant. "I-I've never been a good swimmer."

"Well. Then there is nothing to worry about," Without another word, Wales began walking towards the water, drawing his wand as he did so. With a faint mumble, his wand began to glow. The ice that covered the water instantly shattered that he was about to step retreated, parting and creating a path that they could all traverse. "Now, we move."

Grouping close to the prince, they walked into the river. The water continued to separate until it was above their heads.

The bottom of the river was dark; the only source of light they had was the glow of the prince's wand.

"So, uh, are you sure you can maintain something like this until we reach that cave you were talking about?" Kirche asked obviously unnerved

The prince let out a halfhearted chuckle. "We'll be in the shit if I can't." The bleak humour did little to calm the German's nerves.

Time passed slowly as the group descended deeper into the darkness. From time to time, Louise could see a fish swim near to the bubble, but the question of what could be out there continued to linger in her mind

What monsters could these waters hold?

Her imagination ran wild with possible answers to those questions all of it based on stories she heard when she was young; hopefully, this journey under the waves will soon be over.

xXXXx

The way the military camp was set up was strange. Karin, in all her life, had never seen an army camp set up like this, it was if the bureaucrats back in the capital swapped around the plans for a camp with whatever convoluted plan they had.

Artillery was placed in the middle of camps. People from various parts of the kingdom were intermingled, and most of the soldiers were drinking as if they had already won the war.

It was disgraceful, where was the discipline?

Where were the officers?

Letting out a huff she stopped that line of thought. If this was how these godless protestants handle themselves, then they needn't worry about invasion after this was all set and done.

As she walked through the camp on her way towards the quartermaster's tent, she couldn't help but notice the eyes of the various soldiers that followed her.

It was no doubt due to the "elite" nature of the unit she was joining.

Nearing the tent, she could hear shouts coming from within, "And I'm telling you, my corrections are correct, either you don't know how to read, or the maps that we've been relying on all this time are wrong!" There was a brief moment of silence. "Fucking commoners."

Taking this at her cue, Karin threw open the flap and entered the dimly lit tent. Piles of wooden boxes lined the walls of the tent while in the center sat the man who she had just heard shouting, he looked to be in his early twenties with a face that was well defined, but his eyes looked twice his age.

The man looked up for a brief moment, "Lady grey, I assume?"

She was surprised for but a moment, but quickly regained her mental footing. "Was I so obvious?"

The man scoffed. "Hardly... most of the camp is on the lookout for you."

Now that was surprising. "Why so much interest in a single transfer."

Reaching for an ashtray, the man grabbed a smoking pipe and placed it into his mouth. "You can blame Urvan."

What sort of a name was Urvan? "He's a general, I assume?"

"He's a hard ass, a real stickler for time frames and details, and the fact that you've been missing has given him the perfect excuse to act like even more of an ass." He held up a finger. "Give me a moment... Jefferson?" The man called out into the air. "Let General Willams know I found her."

Karin internally sighed, she really could do without the attention, why did Amethyst see this as a good idea?

"What? You're sending him?" The man sounded as if his day had just gotten ten times worse. "Fuck."

"What's the problem."

"The foreign adviser is coming to fetch you," The man took a long drag of his pipe. "Knowing him, he'll probably have chewed you out harder in the few minutes you'll spend together, then all the officers you ever served under combined."

The man let out a sigh. Standing up, he fished a flash from the inside of his jacket and took a swig from it.

"He'll be here any minute, and he's one that doesn't like to be kept waiting." The man led her out of the tent and stopped at the side of the muddy road.

A welcomed silence grew between them, as they waited for whoever this foreigner was.

As time passed, a subtle hum grew in the air, which grew louder over time. At the end of the road, Karin saw some strange looking black carriage of sorts with two massive lights on the front and moved without horses.

The strange carriage which roared like her daughter's familiar pulled up in front of them. It was long and black with curves that reminded her of the royal carriage in terms of elegance. The front door opened and a man that stood several inches smaller than her. His face carried the gaze of a man who had seen a hundred battles.

It wasn't the only thing she had noticed, the strange uniform he wore was more than eye-catching. A long black leather trench coat that hung below the knees, adoring his chest were two rows of buttons and a strap that went from his left hip over his right shoulder.

But the most striking feature of the uniform was the strange peaked cap that sat atop his head with a red star that had a yellow hammer and sickle interlinked that sat in the center of the head.

"Ah Clarkson, you old bastard." The man started in a thick accent that she couldn't place. "Drinking on the job again I see."

The man let out a hollow laugh. "Only when you're around, Urvan."

The air between the men was tense as if a silent war was going on between them,

"You're humorous, guess that would explain why we haven't gotten those grenades I asked for, you've been too busy practicing to be a joker." The humour instantly evaporated

Clarkson, let out a scoff. "Either way here she is." He took another drag of his pipe. "Now, I'm going to get back to dealing with illiterate peons, who couldn't work their way out of an open field."

"Don't let Cromwell hear that." The foreigner said with a chuckle before fixing his gaze on Karin. "So, you are lady Grey." His words were slow, while his deep blue eyes scanned her face, seemingly admiring every point of it. "Allow me to introduce myself." He said, extending a hand. "My name is Kopsov Urvan,"

"A pleasure to meet you," Karin replied, taking his hand.

"Non-sense, the pleasure is all mine." The man yanked her close, placing his other hand atop hers as his smiler grew wider. "I can tell you aren't who you say you are." He whispered

Karin's eye's narrowed at the accusation. "Oh?"

"You're a woman who has seen many battles, I can see it in your fiery pink eyes. It reminds me of the woman back in my own country. Sadly, you've been the only woman i've come across with that same fire in this land."

Gods how this reminded her of her youth. "Well, I'm sorry that the women of this great nation have been such disappointments thus far."

The man let go of her hand. "That isn't your fault, but that's beside the point, we have places to be."

With a smile, he stepped out of the way and gestured to the rear door of the carriage. Looking between the man and the strange machine.

Walking forward, she pulled opened the door, finding an extremely luxurious interior, everything was covered in either felt or leather, and the seats themselves were as padded as the most expensive of carriages.

Sitting down, the foreigner sat down in the row in front of her and immediately pulled out a small box and fished out a thin white cigar, lighting it with a small device that he pulled out of the front of this machine.

"Let's go." The man said as he breathed out a puff smoke. The machine jerked forward before reaching a comfortable cursing speed on par with her family's carriage.

Something about felt off to the heavy wind, so she asked. "This seems a bit extravagant for a mere infantryman?"

The man chuckled without and replied without turning his gaze to her. "We're already behind schedule as it is. This was merely the fastest way to get you to the rest of your squad."

As the car left the camp, Karin noticed a possible reason for the odd organization of the camp. "Painters?" She asked allowed confused to see a person with such a trade on the battlefield.

"Ah, so you noticed them. An odd sight to be sure, but It's simple, really, Cromwell wishes to capture the battle that will end the royal oppression once and for all." The man took a moment as if contemplating if he should continue. "Stability is most important after a revolution, Cromwell plans to teach the average person about the sacrifices made during this war and the sacrifices of their ancestors. He plans on having entire buildings in every region dedicated to this task, free of course for the average peasant."

The machine slowed to a stop.

The man twisted in his seat to face her. "I could go into more detail. However, I fear that our time is already up. And the attack will commence shortly."

The door at her side was opened. They had arrived at a small clearing. A massive force of fifty Dragons with seats suspended on either side of their body to carry up to twelve soldiers filled this clearing. If Karin had to guess, there were around four hundred men and women currently broken up into squads.

However, something caught her attention, it was a machine laid out like her daughters familiar, metal armour cannon, tracks. The only difference was the shape, it was extremely boxy, the turret was a flat box with what looked to be rivets holding the armour in place and the wheels holding the tracks were far larger. "What?" She muttered.

Internally shaking her head, she faced the foreigner and said her goodbyes before heading to join her squad.

xXXXx

It had taken around half an hour before they had reached the haven that was the cave. A collective sigh of relief filled the dark cave as they stepped out of the water. "Thank the founder that's over," Kirche remarked as she stepped out of the water.

The glow from the prince's wand instantly vanished as he stumbled forward catching his breath for but a moment before standing up and pulling off the ring that had changed his appearance. Returning back to his original appearance.

Wales took the lead yet again muttering. "Welcome to Newcastle." as he reached the door before pulling it open.

It led into a sewer, that stretched on for another hundred yards, with torches lining and illuminating the entire way.

Without a word, the prince led the group down the tunnel, soon reaching yet another iron door atop a small flight of stairs with an empty chair sitting just next to it.

"Where is the sentry?" Wales mumbled as he opened the door, raising concern with the rest of the group.

Opening the door revelled a well-furnished hallway, with paintings lining the walls, expensive-looking chairs lined the walls behind a desk, that was covered in papers and a half-burnt candle at its corner.

"Hello!?" The prince shouted out, worry, lacing his voice. "It's me, prince Wales."

"I don't like this," Wardes muttered as he scanned the well-furnished hall.

The tension was palpable, prompting Louise to draw her revolver while the rest of the group brought their wands out, ready for anything.

Moving slowly, they soon reached the end of the hall, coming to a stairwell that led both up and down.

Following the prince up the stairs, they found more of the same, extremely expensive furnishing, but there was nobody in the hall and not a sound could be heard.

The group split up. Checking each room on this floor proved fruitless as well. It was apparent that this was where the nobles that stayed here slept as every room off of the hall was a bedroom in various states of disarray.

Each room they checked caused the group to grow more and more anxious, just where was everyone? Wasn't this supposed to be the last holdout of royalists?

Wales visibly distraught brought the group up to the next floor, which looked to be the main area of this underground castle. There was no hall on this floor but a massive foyer with a fountain spewing water as the centerpiece. Chairs and small tea tables for lounging and conversing sat in the corners of the room.

The prince spent no time walking over to a massive pair of doors on the left wall, pushing them open and revealing an enormous dining hall, which was an utter mess. The leftovers from a gigantic feast were tossed around the table and littered the floor as if the partygoers were mindless orcs.

Wales took a long look, soaking it all in as he no doubts attempted to put all these pieces together in his mind.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed past the group heading to the other set of doors on the other side of the foyer. "General Lawfield!" He shouted as he pushed open the doors to a small library.

All that he found in that room was the body of a man sitting in front of a flicking fire, a single white napkin draped over his head that blemished with the unsightly colour of blood.

"No." The words that left his mouth were barely audible.

Rushing out of the room, he sprinted over to the last pair of doors, which contained behind it another set of stairs. The rest of the group was slow to react, and soon the prince was out of sight.

They rushed to catch up with him, soon finding him standing in the door frame, which led out into a garden behind a massive church that showed its age in the worn rocks covered in moss.

He stood in the middle of the courtyard in silence, beneath him was a trench blackened with soot.

"Mother? Father?" The prince collapsed to his knees as his composure shattered. "Why," He asked as he picked up a blackened crown from the trench. His breathing grew more erratic as he tossed the crown and punched the ground in a rage Louise had never seen from him before. "Why didn't you wait for me? I told you I would be back!"

Louise was the first to work up the courage to approached the broken prince, soon realizing why the prince had suddenly collapsed. "Oh, founder," A group of charred remains lay motionless in the center of the trench. It became clear that this is what happened to the inhabitants of the underground castle. "Why would they do this?"

"Because of those Reconquistan barbarians. They tortured and broke my aunt before putting her body on display for the world to see! My parents wanted none of this. They would die by their own hands then be some self-assertive priests' show toys."

Louise was unsure of what to do. They had to complete their mission as if what that guns crew had said was true, the attack would begin momentarily.

As if the gods heard the groups thoughts, a faint drum-like sound banged in the distance, followed by what could only be described as a hellish whistle which gradually grew louder.

A look of worry gripped the Viscounts face. He thankfully stepped forward and got the prince back on track. "Your highness, I understand that this may be difficult, but I advise that we should retrieve the letter as soon as possible." His voice carried the worry that was as clear as day on his day.

The prince took a long, drawn out-breath. "You're right." He said, slowly rising to his feet. "I should have expected this. I tried to save them; I simply should have been faster."

Thunderous, deafening explosions crashed through the courtyard, one after the other in dizzying succession, the crackling of roof tiles and shingles resounding faint through the chest-thrumming blast waves and the quaking of the earth beneath their feet.

The group was stunned, they looked to each as if to ask if that just happened. "What in the gods name just happened?" Kirche asked clearly in a panic.

"They've started their attack," Wardes muttered.

Thankfully it had snapped wales out of it, "Wardes come with me. I need the rest of you to guard the entrance as the king's guard seems to have runoff."

"You want us to stay out here!" Kirche shouted at the top of her lungs, "What happens if they bombard us again?"

As much as Louise loathed her, she had to agree. "if they hit us again, there's a good chance we'll be killed." Louise added.

"It will only be a minute!" Just a minute."

"Then I'll come with you." Louise postured wishing to be there at the handing over of the letter.

Wardes shook his head. "I... There is something I wish to discuss with the Viscount in private. So, please just wait out here." Without giving Louise a chance, what he had just said the pair disappeared into the small stone hut.

Biting her tongue, Louise hoped that it wouldn't take too long.

xXXXx

Karin couldn't help but feel herself drifting back to the war. She was currently sat on the side of a dragon flying through the night sky, was one that she all too familiar with when she led the guerrilla campaign against the Germanians while they occupied Tristian.

She had to admire what they had done, adapting her tactics with the otherworldly weapons.

They had broken up the dragons into three different waves. The first wave consisted of smaller dragons that would clear the area around where they would land, then they would land and clear a larger space for the final wave to drop off the siege weapons and the tank.

"Get ready!" Her commander called out from the front of the dragon. "Remember, any member of the royal family is to be captured alive!"

The ruined city beneath her grew as they closed in. Explosions littered the town, kicking up dust and snow. The area that was chosen for landing was a small ruined market in the center of town. Their goal was the church sat in the center of town only a half a mile away from where the royal family was believed to be hiding and where she was most likely to find her daughter.

Thankfully her group was put closest to the church, allowing her to be the first one to arrive.

The dragons descended onto the town; a pair of smaller dragons strafed the intersection where they were landing. They cleared the way by bombarding the intersection where they would touch down.

The dragon tilted up, and with a large flap of its wings, it lost all of its forward moment, and gracefully touched down.

The instant after landing, everyone scrambled off, taking up position behind the remains of buildings at each corner of the market, as the dragon lifted off again.

An eerie silence took hold in the market as the group waited for any sign of resistance.

However, as time slowly passed, it became clear that either they had gotten lucky, or the royalists were smart enough not to attack. The sounds of battle soon exploded in other areas of the city where the rest of the force had landed.

"Alright, gather up, we move." The commander's orders were followed, the entire squad filed into lines on either side of the road, and began to make their way towards the church tower.

Still, where was everyone? They would have been civilians, perhaps they escaped in the night, or maybe they simply gave up.

As they passed by another unimpressive building, Karin caught a faint glimmer in the corner of her eye through the darkness.

A wand.

Her mind reverted to the war as the next words left her mouth. "MAGE!"

She dropped the ground as she did all those times before just in time, fire shot out from the windows engulfing the two men in front of her.

Their screams filled her ears as they flailed around in agonizing pain.

The fire stopped, and Karin saw her opportunity, rising to her feet, she caught the mage dressed in a king's guards' uniform, running into a back room to escape. Raising her gun, she pulled the trigger, round after round tore into man, who stumbled on before collapsing.

The gun was unlike anything she had seen before, it louder than a musket, but there wasn't as much recoil. It was accurate, and it could fire repeatedly. Weapons like these would no doubt twist the balance of power.

The battle carried on as musket fire rained down on the group from an intersection up ahead.

An exchange of fire forced the royalists to retreat behind the buildings for cover as her groups repeating rifles had no compare.

Although the commander didn't advance, instead, the commander raised his wand to the sky. It glowed a bright green followed by a bright red, before finally firing off a fireball at the intersection.

Mere moments later, a pair of dragons descended out of the sky, running a line of fire down the street where the royalists were firing from silencing all sounds from that street.

The group moved the bodies of their dead comrades of the road to be collected later. After this, the group silently made their way down the street, coming across the destruction and death that those dragons brought.

Twelve men were caught in that fire, all their bodies now charred black and lay lifeless on the road.

With the church now a stone's throw away, it was time to ditch the group. None of her temporary comrades stood a chance, with but a thought, everyone around her dropped, their heads separating from the body when it impacted the ground.

'No, a mage would always outclass a mere commoner.'

The invisible hand of wind gathered up the guns of the group, they would be incredibly useful. Without so much as another glance, she raced forward towards the church tower.

xXXXx

Louise was on edge.

Something was wrong. She knew it, a long time had passed Wardes and Wales had entered the underground castle, and there wasn't a single sign of them returning.

The sounds of battle grew closer, the roar of gunfire sound only a few hundred yards away, dragons could be seen straining and setting fire to various areas around the church.

And all they had for defense was a ten-foot-tall cobblestone wall with a single iron door. Anyone could get through it. Even the most lame commoner could easily bypass it.

It wasn't just her though, Kirche Kept watch of the wall, her eyes darting from one end to the other, while Tabitha. Well, she never really showed emotions anyways.

Still, as time passed by, Louise found it harder and harder to stand around and do nothing simply. Biting her tongue, she spun around and pushed open the door to the castle below.

But before she could enter, Kirche grabbed her wrist, stopping her. "Where do you think you're going?" Kirche asked.

Louise yanked her arm away from the Germanian. "I'm going to check on Wardes and Wales."

"He asked us to keep watch," Kirche replied.

"They said they would only be a minute, and look how much time has passed." Louise's eyes darted to the ground.

"Louise it's only been a few minutes"

'What?' it had felt far longer to Louise.

"and the prince asked for privacy," Kirche argued.

Louise shook her head, "Princess Henrietta asked me to get the letter. I ought to be present for the exchange. And what if something happens? Maybe there was an assassin hidden out of sight, maybe that's the reason why the nobility is dead. They would be busy talking, and then they would be killed."

"And what happens if you find this assassin, you're a zero, how are you goin-"

"I have my pistol!" She shouted, what was happening? Why was she acting this way, where was her confidence that had carried her over the lines, had that lozenge wore off.

"Louise." Kirche voice was filled with a concern she had never heard from her before, "Are you ok?"

Louise took a moment to answer, she wasn't sure what to say, but she had to move. "I'm fine. I'll be in and out."

"Fine, just don't be too long." Without so much as glance Louise left the pair, descending into the castle

She quickly retraced her steps looking over every room that they had passed, finding nothing had changed on the first flower, so she descended deeper to the dorms, where again there no one or nobody.

Eventually, she found herself in front of the only place that she hadn't passed through before.

With no other options, she slowly descended down the stairwell. the area around her seemed to grow colder with each step. The bottom of the stairs was devoid of any doors; the only thing she found was a small hole just big enough to stick your arm into.

She looked to her left hand in thought. She had heard stories of various secrets held by the royalty, Henrietta always had rumours that she heard about secret rooms and hallways hidden away in the castle. Could this be an entrance to one of those secrets?

Drawing closer to the wall, she hesitantly inserted her hand into the hole, feeling around for a button or lever of some kind.

Oddly it was shaped like a glove, forcing you to insert each digit of your hand into a different hole.

A scream escaped her lips as pain shot from her hand, it felt on fire, she attempted to pull it out but that only made the pain worse. Tears welled in the corner of her eyes as the pain overloaded her sense. What was this?

The burning slowly subsided. Her hand was suddenly freed. She pulled out her trembling hand, the glove had a small circle of blood in the palm of her hand centred by a hole in both the glove and her hand.

A rumbling shook the room while the wall in front of her slowly parted. Revealing another dormitory by the looks of it, the hall was even more well-furnished then the dorm above.

Each door she checked was locked, save for one which was slightly ajar near the end of the wall. "Wardes?" Pushing open the door, she froze in shock. The first thing she saw was the body of wales, his throat slashed and looked of terror on his face. The next was the Viscount was standing atop the body of the prince, whose neck had been slashed wielding a wand that was only now diming.

It made it clear to her what had happened here.

"Louise, let m-"

"Why?" She asked tears building in the corners of her eyes

The Viscount attempted to step forward. But Louise drew her pistol, forcing him to raise his hands. "Louise, I have a good reason for what I did. I just need you to lower that gun and let me explain."

Tears began to run down her face, and her breathing grew erratic. "Stay back!" She waved shoved the gun forward to complete her threat. "Are you working for Reconquista!" She shouted, swallowing her fear.

The viscount grit his teeth at the accusation. "I am."

The words stabbed at her heart. "Why. Why betray Tristian. Why side with the royalists. Why kill Prince Wales."

"My loyalty is to all of humanity, including Tristian. I didn't join Reconquista out of a love for their ideals; they are simply the easiest way to achieve my goal. As for the prince, it wasn't something I didn't want to do, but I had no other choice." His voice carried a plea that she would see things his way.

"But you're a viscount. You're the captain of Tristian's Griffin knights, it doesn't make any sense."

"Listen, Louise, I know that this doesn't make any sense right now. All I ask you to trust me. There is a great calamity that is coming to Halkenginia, and I need your help to avoid it."

The room suddenly shook, dust dislodged from the roof gently floated down.

"Another barrage," Wardes muttered. "Look, Louise, I can't explain everything right now but trust me once we get to someplace safe, I can explain everything, even why your magic doesn't work."

"I-I can't." Her tears blurred the picture of her fiancee and the trembling hands in front of her that held her gun.

A look of defeat formed on the Captain's face. "I see."

Another earth-shaking explosion rocked the room, pulling her gaze skywards.

That's when he pounced, Wardes rushed forward, but he was to slow.

The thundering sound of the gun echoed throughout the room. Deafening Louise and forcing her eyes shut. The body of Wardes impacted the smaller girl sending them both into the hall, tumbling onto her back and slamming Louise's head into the carpeted floor.

As she slowly opened her eyes, she found Wardes lying beside her, his jacket gradually darkening as bleed left the bullet hole in his chest. His eyes conveyed a fear that she had never seen before. They reached out, seemingly pleading for help.

But most chilling of all was his gasps for air as if drowning his mouth lay wide open begging for air.

Their eyes met, and the terrified expression on the Viscount's face seemed to soften. What little strength was left was used to reach into his coat, pulled out an envelope and shoved it into her chest, which she grabbed.

Wardes gestured her to draw closer. Swallowing the suffocating sadness, she leaned in close until. their faces mere inches apart. "I...I'm sorry." A small smile formed on the Viscounts face as he cupped the teary-eyed girl's face with a bloodied hand. "Pl- please f-f-find Matilda." A bloody cough interrupted him. "F-Find Iberia."

Another shell hit the ground above her, followed by another and another, the earth shook with a fury that she had never witnessed before. Parts of the hall began to collapse, unable to withstand the might of the bombardment atop the surface.

Louise looked around in a panic, where could she go what could she do. A sudden sense of weightlessness overtook her, and she was hoisted into the air.

Wardes gritting his bloody teeth held a glowing wand in his hand. With a grunt, he flung Louise into the room at the end of a hall, just before the rest of the hallway collapsed.

A sharp pain shot from the back of her head as it something, and everything went black.

xXXXx

_**A/N And so ends part 2 of the Newcastle story, this was supposed to be the end of this part of the story but it got longer and longer and i didn't want 1 chapter reaching 10k words in a fic where most chapters are 3-5k even this is pushing it.**_

_**But i hoped you enjoyed it and i hope to hear what you think.**_


	21. Chapter 21: Newcastle part 3

The thunder of the bombardment currently hitting the courtyard deafened the German. She could hear nothing but constant ringing in her ears.

She didn't know when or how, but one minute all was calm, and the next, it was like the gods themselves were attacking them.

With no other cover, both she and Tabitha dove into the mass grave with the rest of the bodies.

Another blast rocked the grave, the explosion happened somewhere above, Tabitha shouted something, but it was impossible for Kirche to hear her in the chaos, all she could do was press her head into the dirt, and hope this would all be over soon.

Minutes felt like hours, as explosion after explosion detonated around them. Thankfully the bombardment subsided.

Kirche blinked in a daze. Her hearing had yet to return. She had to crawl out of the grave on all fours as her body refused to listen to her.

Sitting up, she was able to see the destruction around her fully. Through the fog of dust, she could see that the church was but rubble, having collapsed in on itself, however, the cause for concern was the entrance to the castle had been hit directly crushing and destroying it.

The realization hit her. "Louise." She could barely hear herself over the ringing that was slowly fading. She rose to her feet, stumbled a few yards and collapsed.

Gritting her teeth, she rose to her feet, allowing her to see the full extent of the destruction.

The earth where she believed the castle had sunken into the ground, had the whole place collapsed?

"Tabitha... give me a hand." Drawing her wand, she began to levitate chunks of the dirt,

But there was no response, not even a hum of agreement or refusal. Looking over her shoulder, her eyes widened.

Tabitha was hovering off of the ground, grabbing at what seemed like an invisible hand around her neck. Beside her was a Reconquistan soldier, whose hands were devoid of a wand or similar foci, followed by a near armouries worth of small arms.

Kirche drew her wand with lightning speed. "Ign-" The breath was sucked out of her, and something squeezed around her neck and wrist.

In a flash, she slammed against a remnant of the cobblestone wall. She attempted to aim her wand while in this state if she could just get a fire off a spell.

A muffled scream escaped her lips. Her wrist began to twist, causing pain to shot from her hand until it felt like it was about to snap.

Dropping her wand, the pressure released.

The figure drew closer while Tabitha was moved closer to her. They had a presence that Kirche couldn't help but recognize. Then she spoke, "Where is my daughter." her tone was cold and deadly serious as if she would kill them if they lied.

Kirche felt like she was in the jaws of a manticore, and complied by pointing to the collapsed church. The Duchess narrowed her eyes and then turned to where she had entered the courtyard. "Reconquista will be here soon,"

Kirche suddenly found herself released, collapsing to her knees, gripping her sore wrist. Before she could even react, she was grabbed by the pit of her arm and hoisted to her feet before a pistol was shoved into her chest. "What do you want me to do with this?" The Germanian questioned.

"Use it, if you need to, it's faster than a wand." There was a pause as the Duchess took a step away from them to survey the environment. "We need to find a place to hide," Valliere ordered.

Kirche felt anger building at the gall of this woman. "You're just going to leave your daughter?"

Karin shot the Germanian a glare that could kill a dragon. "It would do her no good if we die before we can reach her. We'll wait for rebels to start clearing the rubble, and then we'll strike."

Baring her teeth, she looked away from the woman before her. "Then, where are we supposed to hide?"

Karin took a moment to survey her surroundings before posing a question. "Your group has been here longer than me. What do you have in mind?"

Kirche put on the spot aimlessly looked around for any around but couldn't come up with an answer, all she had seen was the castle.

"Sewer?" Tabitha said in the same dreary tone as always grabbing the pair's attention.

"Right, Right, Tabitha, you're a genius," Kirche said, suddenly remembering a critical feature of the castle. "The hidden entrance to the underground castle, it. It looked like a sewer. Maybe it connects to the city's sewer system somehow, and then we wouldn't have to wait for them to clean up the church."

The Duchess hummed, "No."

"No!?"

"Their mission was to capture the royal family; they'll start clearing the rubble as soon as they arrive. But the sewer is probably the best place to hide for now." Karin said.

The trio made their way until they had reached a manhole, propping open the Kirche lead the descent down into the dark, damp tunnels beneath this accursed town.

Kirche fought back the urge to vomit as she smelled the vile stench of rot and shit the lingered in the air and clung to the walls like mould. "Oh, founder." She muttered.

Valliere closed the manhole behind them, and took the lead, bringing them just around the corner where she set down her stuff and the pile of guns that she had collected and looked to Tabitha. "Tell me. Where did you get that staff of yours?"

"My fathers."

The Duchess was silent for a moment. "I see."

Kirche looked between the woman and the girl who seemed to be having a silent conversation. "Uh. Is there something I should know?" Kirche asked.

Karin shook her head. "No. I was simply curious." Turning her gaze to her bag, she fished out a letter one that had the seal of the provisional government.

"So whats the plan."

The Duchess said nothing and pulled her wand from her waist and peeled the seal off. "Deception... Now do you have your old uniforms?"

xXXXx

The trio emerged from the sewer sometime after sunrise. In the time since the Royalist's capitulation, the Reconquistian army had turned the city into one giant celebration. Flags hung from shattered windows, music was being played on instruments of various quality, alcohol flowed through the streets. On every corner, there was dancing and gunshots as men fired their muskets into the air.

Probably the most apparent change was the sudden appearance of Prostitutes who wandered the streets in their ragged dresses looking for any man desperate for the touch of a woman.

Kirche only saw this type of party a few times in her life, when the Kaiser ascended to the throne when she was six, The Kaiser's first marriage to his late wife, and the birth of the Kaiser's first son.

The only place that had been spared by lawlessness was the area directly around where the church once stood. Checkpoints manned by people in strange uniforms consisting of blue peaked caps in a style she had only seen worn on travellers from the far north-east frontiers of Germania. They carried themselves differently to the rest of the army, more like a police force of some kind, but were armed like a soldier.

Kirche didn't know how they were supposed to get in. However, Duchess Valliere, who had covered her head and arms in bandages made out of their old uniforms, took the lead, leading straight to one of the checkpoints. It was a look that she was all too familiar with. She was portraying a person who had survived a gas attack.

Nearing the gate to the collapsed church, one of the strange officers raised a hand to stop them and said something to the Duchess as he stepped forward. She produced the letter that she had made the night before. The man took the letter and opened it and paled at its contents. The man squinted and attempted as hard as he could to read it, but it seemed that he just couldn't.

As they stood waiting to gain entry, Kirche heard a familiar roar of an engine that made her blood run cold, looking over her shoulder, she saw a tracked machine come into view, there so many soldiers atop it waving their flags and firing their guns into the air, that she couldn't see much more than its hull and its gun which resembled the cannon on Louise's familiar then that of the armoured car.

Her mind was spinning, just where was all this equipment coming from? First, these panzerfaust's and now tanks, were there more hidden away? Could her parents have some of these weapons? Her gaze shifted to the Duchess, 'Could she have some of those weapons?'

A tap on her shoulder by the Gallian's staff pulled her back to reality. The makeshift gate to the church was now open, and they could now enter.

Crossing the wall, revelled just how much work had been done since they had left the night before. Most of the debris had been pilled to the side, and a near-perfect outline of the castle had been dug. Ladders led down to the bottom of the gorge where what looked to be prisoners working on digging out the rest of the castle.

Kirche couldn't help but draw closer to the edge of the hole, which looked to be around forty feet deep. 'How could they have done so much?'

The answer soon presented itself as shouts from the depth below filled her ears, the group of prisoners all of which were dressed in Royalist's uniforms, were in the far in a section of the castle she had never been in before, it was deeper than the rest. A pair of guards marched forward, grabbing a man who had collapsed and dragged him away into a room that hadn't been collapsed.

The remaining guards shouted and fired a round into the air, forcing the rest of the group to continue to clear the rubble.

Out of the corner of her eye Kirche saw, Tabitha took a place beside her. "Why aren't the mages fighting back?" Kirche muttered just loud enough for the girl beside her to hear.

"Damaged wands. Will break if too much willpower is funnelled into it." Tabitha explained.

A whistle pulled the pair's attention to the Duchess in front of a ladder leading down into the castle. "Gallian is still the language of the nobility, so try to keep conversations to a minimum," Karin explained. "But they didn't find Louise, so she's most likely still down there," Karin said as they drew close. Looking to the ladder, "They said that one of their earth mages familiar discovered an underground river over where they are currently digging."

With nothing else to go on other than some vague hope that Louise was in this unclasped portion of the castle, the group climbed down into the ruins, it was almost haunting to the Germanian, how the luxury that had plastered every single wall had been torn and destroyed in its collapse. After reaching the floor they walked through the ruins until they reached a new drop, Kirche recognized this area as the stairwell that leads down to the entrance, but she didn't remember it being so deep.

Climbing down another ladder to a thick, strange-looking door with a hole in the middle, that stood without a frame. Kirche stopped and took a moment to examine the door as she pondered how it worked.

Reaching forward with an open hand, she was about to insert it when Tabitha smacked it with the end of her staff. "Bad idea."

The redhead rubbing her sore hand merely looked to the girl with a sour look but didn't say anything.

By the time they had reached the group they had already broken into a room at the end of the hall, and a group of guards had already entered.

A sudden gunshot from within the cave, caused their blood to run cold. Kirche was the first to react, sprinting forward into the group of prisoners, many of which attempted to stop them from getting through. But the fire in her soul forced her forward through the men and into the cave.

A single man stood on a deck overhanging a river, musket in hand, aiming at a small empty boat that was floating away.

Confusion grew until she noticed a small amount of wet pink hair poke out from the side of the boat. "Hey!" She shouted in Germanian as Loud as she could, causing the man to flinch as he fired. The shot flew wide and blew a hole next to where the top of Louise's head was.

The grey-haired old man looked to her in anger just as a massive explosion detonated on the roof of the cave. Chunks of the roof began to fall, crushing the older man. Kirche herself was about to be crushed when she was suddenly pulled from the cave and thrown on to her back. In the middle of a shouting match between the positioned guards and the Duchess.

Kirche was powerless to do anything as the argument grew more heated, the man Karin was arguing with, drew his gun. The Duchess shouted something which got the rest of the guards to attempt to deescalate the situation as if driven to fear.

The man grew silent for a time before holstering his pistol and pointing towards the way out of the chasm.

Kirche floated off the ground and onto her feet. The Duchess turned, and their eyes met, and Kirche in that single moment felt as if she was staring death in the face. The Duchess led them to the ladders, where she stopped and asked. "What happened in there." Her eyes were void of the pervious anger as if that display of killing intent was merely an act.

Taken aback by this sudden shift, Kirche took a moment to compose her thoughts. "There was an underground river, A man was aiming a musket at a boat from the dock. I-I didn't see who was in it, but I saw pink hair and uh, and after he missed, an explosion knocked down the roof."

The Duchess was silent for a time, "And which way did the river go?"

"The river flowed that way." She said, pointing to her right.

"Alright," Karin muttered. She said nothing as she climbed up the ladder.

Kirche was at a loss by the Vallieres tone. "Alright?" She said, almost taking offence from the lack of care in the Duchess's voice. "That's all you have to say?" She said, following her up. "And why are you leaving?"

The Duchess awaited her at the top of the ladder. "I'm leaving because there is nothing else that can be done here, you said there was an underground river, by the time they clear that debris she'll be long gone. So, I'm going to try and find her while you two head back to the mainland."

Kirche wanted to scream, did this Valliere not realize what they've been through up until this point. She turned to Tabitha in hopes of that the pair of them could convince her. But all the blue-haired girl said was, "Trust her."

Kirche let out an annoyed sigh, this entire journey she had been strung along, her ideas ignored and look where it got them. As a new idea popped into her head, her resolve solidified. "Fine, I guess we'll head back to the mainland."

She would follow along for now.

"We'll split up once we leave the city."

xXXXx

"Louise- Louise?" Louise Lazily opened her eyes to the sight of a young viscount sitting across from her in a small wooden boat. She looked around, attempting to get her barring's, but everywhere she looked, there was nothing but white emptiness.

"Wardes?" Louise questioned. "Where are we?" A wave of sadness suddenly washed over the girl. Tears formed in the girl's eyes, and she began to shiver.

A warm smile formed on the Viscount's face. He reached over a wiped the stream. Louise grabbed the man's hand, pulling it to her cheek for the small comfort and warmth that it brought.

The man's smile grew warmer. The Viscount looked to his side, where a dock had formed into the white void. Pulling his hand away from the girl who reached to capture it again, Wardes stood up and stepped onto the dock. "Don't go Wardes." Begged Louise. "Please don't leave. I... I don't want to be alone."

The Viscount stopped, "I'm truly sorry, Louise. But this is my destination." Turning, he kneeled at the edge. "But, your journey will continue, it has to." Wardes pointed to his left, drawing Louise's gaze to another boat at a similar dock. In the boat sat Henrietta in her royal gown curled up and crying in her legs. On the dock stood king Henry and prince wales both paid her no mind as they walked into the bright light.

"She needs your help Louise," Wardes said. "So please find Matilda, and wake up."

Louise looked to her fiancee, who now mirrored his older self, confused. "Wake up? What do you mean, wake up?"

The man said nothing, but the void grew brighter and brighter, the last thing she saw was a soft smile before the light enveloped her.

xXXXx

A groan escaped her lips as Louise began to wake up; it felt as if her entire body was sore. Opening her eyes revealed a dark rock ceiling above lit by a few torches on the walls.

Wiping the tears that stung her eye, she stuffed the letters into her pocket and turned her attention to her body, bits of rock and remnants of wooden supports covered her legs. Panic gripped the girl for but a moment when she realized that her legs hadn't been crushed, and she could simply slip them out from under the rubble.

Taking a moment to breathe, Louise slowly stood up, silently thanking the gods while rubbing a sore spot on the back of her head, she pulled off her glove to see if she was still bleeding, thankfully she wasn't, but that wasn't what confused her, her runes had a faint glow to them.

Pursing her lips, she put her glove back on, and she looked around to orient herself. She stood on the edge of a fast-moving river, next to a small dock that led out to a wooden boat. Hanging from a short pole was a lantern.

A clang of metal filled her ears as she moved, looking to the floor she Noticed her pistol next to her, she picked it up and examined it with both hands, her thumb glided over the barrel that was still warm to the touch. Oh, founder, what had she done.

Pushing that thought aside, she stuck the pistol back in her holster and Looked towards the other side of the room, where she supposedly came in, the entrance and stairway were covered in rubble from a partially collapsed roof.

Moving over the rubble and clambering up the ruined stairs, she reached the entranceway and placed her two hands upon one of the larger stones and pushed with all her might, but they wouldn't budge.

Pursing her lips, she looked to the wand on her hip. That was an option, but. 'It would only cause another cave in.'

She would have to wait for Kirche and Tabitha to fish her out of this hole.

'Could they? Or would they?' Shaking her head, she dispelled those thoughts. They would obviously come for her, 'I mean, why would they risk their life if they would just leave me.' She let out a nervous chuckle at the thought. "Oh, founder."

She had to give them the benefit of the doubt; gods knows where the river would take. As she was about to head back down to the dock, she heard a muffled voice come in through the rubble.

Pressing her ear up in between the cracks in the rubble. She couldn't make out what was being said, but the voices didn't belong to Kirche or Tabitha, they were distinctly male.

Just how long was she out for?

Listening closer she was able to make out what one of the voices were saying. "Hurry up, Cromwell has a speech this afternoon."

She paled; how long had she been asleep?

Shooting her gaze back to the boat, she quickly stumbled down the steps to the dock where the boat laid. She had to get back to Tristian.

She undid the rope as quickly as she could, but as she was about to climb in the entrance was blown open.

Without thinking she ran over to some rubble on the shore of the river to hide and peered over her cover, Louise watched as two Reconquistan grunts followed by a well-dressed officer entered the cave.

Shooting a quick glance over her shoulder, Louise watched as the boat was slowly being pulled away from the dock by the pull of the river.

Ducking behind the rock, her mind quickly cooked up a plan, drawing her pistol she brought it closer to her chest and pulled back on the hammer. 'You can do this Louise. You can do this. You need to do this.'

Closing her eyes her she attempted to focus on controlling her breathing. 'I can do this.' Opening her eyes, she clenched her gun with both hands and rounded the corner. Only to find herself directly in front of the leading man.

A scream escaped her lips, and on reflex, she pulled the trigger, a bang filled the room, but a jerk of the gun caused the shot to miss.

Her ears rang, and the flash blinded her, but even with her darkened vision, it was clear that her assailant was already in the process of bringing his gun to bear on her.

Louise did the only thing that came to mind. With a step forward, she shoved the man away with all the strength she could muster, sending the man stumbling backward into another of her pursers.

Turning she sprinted towards the boat that was already beginning to be pulled away by the current. But not a few steps after setting off, she was tackled by the third man and thrown to the dock. Her face slammed into the dock, and she was suddenly unable to breathe through her nose.

She could feel the weight of the man on her back. Without thinking, she struggled and kicked and, with a lucky strike of the elbow, threw the man off of her back and clawed and crawled on all fours in an attempt to getaway. However, the man proved persistent, grabbing a leg before she could getaway.

With another yelp, she kicked the man, a loud crunch of bone filled her ears.

Gritting her teeth, she clambered to her feet to continue her sprint. The boat was now far from the dock she would need to jump.

"Stop!" one of her pursuers shouted. Louise ignored it; she all she needed to do was jump.

***Bang!* **A shot roared throughout the cave, the bullet whizzed by her leg, blowing a hole in the dock and sapping her legs of all semblance of coordination. The edge drew closer and closer, but as she was about to tumble over into the river, she kicked off with her foot, slightly overshooting the boat and landing into the river with a splash.

Her world went dark, and her mouth was flooded with water. Blind deaf and confused, she scrambled to the surface, breaking through hacking up water.

Looking around, she spotted the boat just a few feet away and swam over to it, tossing her pistol in before grabbing hold of its side, taking a small moment to rest.

"He!"

Another gunshot pierced the air, and the hole was blown into the boat next to where she had been holding onto. Her heart jumped as reality hit her like a stone. Eyes darting to her hip, she withdrew her wand and aimed it at the ceiling of the cave just behind her.

She didn't know if this idea was smart or stupid. But it didn't matter, all she cared about was getting away.

"Ignus!"

An explosion erupted at the roof of the cave, shaking the entire river. The roof began to cave in, rocks of varying sizes fell into the river, creating waves that pushed her and the boat along and encircling the girl in a blanket of darkness.

There was a moment where Louise simply stared at the wall of boulders. After nearly a minute, Louise pulled herself up into the boat and out of the cold water. Rolling over onto her back, She was content to lay in the wooden boat in the soft glow of a lantern.

Moving a hand to her chest and feeling it pound in her chest, it dawned on her just how close to death she had been.

After several minutes of attempting to calm down, a new question entered her mind. 'Where is the boat taking me?' she wondered, raising her head to look over the hull and into the darkness ahead of her.

Seeing as she had no clue when she was going to emerge from the underground, she Moved over the bench near the stern of the boat and sat down.

Sticking a hand into her pocket, she pulled out the soggy mess that had been the letters that her dead fiancee had given her.

She attempted to open them, but no matter how little force she applies, the paper would tear apart.

Her trembling hands slowly closed around the letter, her breathing grew erratic, tears began to form in her eyes, and in a single moment, she tore apart the letters and screamed, "Gods damn it!" and crumpled it up before standing up and throwing it as hard as she could in front of the boat, shaking the boat and almost sending her overboard.

Regaining her balance she Collapsed into her seat, Louise let her head fall into her hands. Tears soaked her hands. 'Why. Why do this to me?' leaning forward, she fell onto her side and wrapped her arms around herself.

As the boat drifted into the darkness, the sobbing of a lost girl echoed throughout the cave.

xXXXx

_**And that's that for New castle, both groups are heading their own ways and Louise is now on her own, in hostile lands. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and i hope to see you soon.**_


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